The American Nurses Association (ANA) has updated its code of ethics for the first time since 2001 and has dubbed 2015 as the “Year of Ethics.” In addition to the updated code, the association is planning a number of activities to support the theme.
“The public places its faith in nurses to practice ethically. A patient’s health, autonomy and even life or death, can be affected by a nurse’s decisions and actions,” says ANA President Pamela F. Cipriano, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN. “ANA believes it’s important that all nurses practice at the highest ethical level, and therefore, we will be offering a full range of activities to inform and support nurses to achieve that goal in a stressful and ever-changing health care environment.”
The “Year of Ethics” was launched with the revised Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements on Jan. 1. The code of ethics serves as the nursing profession’s ethical standard and includes nine provisions and accompanying interpretive statements. The provisions outline fundamental values and commitments of the nurse, the boundary of duty and loyalty, and describes the duties of the nurse as they extend beyond patient encounters, according to ANA.
The changes were created based on a review of thousands of comments submitted by nurses and a four-year revision process. ANA says the new code “reflects modern clinical practice and evolving conditions, and fully addresses transformations in health care.”
The revisions aim to simplify and make the current content more clear, to anticipate further healthcare advances, and to make the code more accessible and easier to navigate.
ANA also plans to release and accompanying publication, Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurses, in July. Other ethics activities include a Jan. 21 live webinar titled, “Keeping the Code: Every Nurse’s Ethical Obligation,” followed by more throughout the year and a symposium in June to facilitate further discussion of ethical issues. Ethics will also be the theme of National Nurses Week, May 6-12.
Fuente: Healthcare Traveler
