Integrity of Nursing

Question 1

What is integrity?

Answer 1

Honesty, sincerity, uprightness, wholeness
Integration of our ideals into all aspects of our lives.
Commitment to people
Consistency in word and action
Adherence to a code of ethics, professional nursing standards.
The way in which we conduct ourselves as moral agents
Integrity is a fundamental value in nursing
Key feature in Virtue Ethics

Question 2

What are four features of integrity?

Answer 2

Moral agency
Fidelity to promise
Steadfastness
Wholeness

Question 3

What are four types of intersecting relationships that involve integrity?

Answer 3

Nurse - client
Nurse - institution
Nurse - colleague
Nurse - community

Question 4

What is advocacy?

Answer 4

The active support of an important cause, supporting others to act for themselves or speaking on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.

Question 5

What are some characteristics of professional advocacy?

Answer 5

Advocacy is an integral part of nursing.
Can help form trust in nurse-patient relationships.
An enhancement of moral courage.
The skill of facilitating the needs of others.
A theme within Virtue Ethics.

Question 6

What is individual advocacy?

Answer 6

Individuals assisted to authentically exercise their freedom of self-determination.

Question 7

What is professional advocacy?

Answer 7

Actions taken on behalf of individual patients and actions taken to expose and redress underlying problems inherent in larger contexts of institutions, policy making and the health care delivery system.

Question 8

What are some risks of professional advocacy?

Answer 8

Hostility, isolation from peers, emotional toll, reprimand, impinge on job opportunities.

Question 9

What are some barriers to professional advocacy?

Answer 9

equity and fairness (can’t promote the interests of one if it is impinging on the interests of others), systemic issues, requires time, energy, resources, understanding of a patient’s rights, requires support and capacity (assertiveness, confidence, knowledge)

Question 10

What are the benefits of professional advocacy?

Answer 10

Sustained contact with patient provides insight into injustices.

Question 11

What is a challenge of professional advocacy?

Answer 11

Requires a balance between the health needs of an individual vs. a population

Question 12

What are some fundamental values of caring (embodied knowledge)?

Answer 12

Interconnectedness with mind/body/spirit
Emotional sensitivity to the experience of others
Perception of the context/perspective of the experience.
Integral part of our cognitive appraisal of a situation.
Can be learned by cultivating openness, attentiveness.
Allows us to be informed, responsive and empowered.
A theme within Virtue Ethics.
Intuition.

Question 13

What does caring allow us to do?

Answer 13

Allows us to be informed, responsive and empowered.

Question 14

What is embodied knowledge?

Answer 14

Embodied knowledge – this is when your body knows how to act in a situation, or understand without actually thinking about it. This comes back to our intuition, our own caring nature, our ability to be empathetic.

Question 15

What is the result of embodied knowledge?

Answer 15

Results in the capacity to develop empathy.

Question 16

What does embodied knowledge do?

Answer 16

Enhances capacity to form accurate moral perceptions and moral judgements/actions

Question 17

What does a sympathetic person do? (Caring - embodied knowledge)

Answer 17

A sympathetic and compassionate person is more likely to perceive situations as warranting beneficent acts and to perform beneficent acts

Question 18

What are the values in the CNA code of ethics?

Answer 18

1. Providing safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care
2. Promoting health and well-being
3. Promoting and respecting informed decision-making
4. Preserving dignity
5. Maintaining privacy and confidentiality
6. Promoting justice
7. Being accountable

Question 19

What are responsibility statements?

Answer 19

Statements accompanying each ethical value that guide our practice

Question 20

What are the three levels of guidance?

Answer 20

Prescriptive
Advisory
Limited

Question 21

What warrants prescriptive guidance?

Answer 21

In the case of an ethical violation

Question 22

What warrants advisory guidance?

Answer 22

In the case of an ethical dilemma

Question 23

What warrants limited guidance?

Answer 23

In the case of ethical distress

Question 24

What is the purpose of the CNA code of ethics? (How does it help us)

Answer 24

guides ethical decision making

outlines a set of values basic to nursing practice

provides a means for self-evaluation

provides a basis for peer review initiatives

informs nurses of their values/standards

informs the public of nurses’ values/standards

Question 25

What are some limitations of the CNA code of ethics?

Answer 25

does not provide the ethical values for every situation

does not recognize the unique context of an ethical situation

does not identify a system of prioritizing values

does not recognize the moral reasoning required to work through an ethical situation

Question 26

When does a nurse have the duty to report?

Answer 26

Impaired practice (incompetent or unsafe)
Unethical behaviour
HCP charged/convicted of a crime

Question 27

What does a nurse have the duty to report?

Answer 27

Failing to provide safe, competent care
Breech of ethical standards
Questionable behavior that is likely to continue
Unable/ unwilling to recognize and correct the behavior
Harm has been caused

Question 28

Who does a nurse report to?

Answer 28

Directly (describe behaviour)
Manager (choose course of action)
Regulatory body (report to CRNBC if un-resolved)