About the Book

The definitive framework for ethical analysis and decision-making for RNs across all practice levels, roles and settings. Revisions were made in this new edition in response to the complexities of modern nursing, to simplify and more clearly articulate the content, to anticipate advances in health care, and to incorporate aids that would make it richer, more accessible, and easier to use.

Consisting of nine provisions and the accompanying interpretive statements, it:

• Provides a succinct statement of the ethical values, obligations, and duties of every individual who enters the nursing profession.
• Serves as the profession’s nonnegotiable ethical standard.
• Expresses nursing’s own understanding of its commitment to society.
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The code is particularly useful to in today’s health care environment because it reiterates the fundamental values and commitments of the nurse (Provisions 1–3), identifies the boundaries of duty and loyalty (Provisions 4–6), and describes the duties of the nurse that extend beyond individual patient encounters (Provisions 7–9). This revision retains interpretive statements for each provision that provide more specific guidance for practice. The statements are responsive to the contemporary context of nursing and recognize the larger scope of nursing’s concern in relation to health. It also includes another innovation: links to foundational and supplemental documents, which will be available later in 2015.

ANA’s Code of Ethics for Nurses is the promise that nurses are doing their best to provide care for their patients and their communities and are supporting each other in the process so that all nurses can fulfill their ethical and professional obligations. It is important tool that can be used now as leverage to a better future for nurses, patients and health care. This Code is a reflection of the proud ethical heritage of nursing, a guide for all nurses now and into the future.

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Introduction
• Provision 1
• 1.1 Respect For Human Dignity
• 1.2 Relationships with Patients
• 1.3 The Nature of Health
• 1.4 The Right to Self-Determination
• 1.5 Relationships with Colleagues and Others
• Provision 2
• 2.1 Primacy of the Patient's Interests
• 2.2 Conflict of Interest for Nurses
• 2.3 Collaboration
• 2.4 Professional Boundaries
• Provision 3
• 3.1 Protection of the Rights of Privacy and Confidentiality
• 3.2 Protection of Human Participants in Research
• 3.3 Performance Standards and Review Mechanisms
• 3.4 Professional Responsibility in Promoting a Culture of Safety
• 3.5 Protection of Patient Health and Safety by Acting on Questionable Practice
• 3.6 Patient Protection and Impaired Practice
• Provision 4
• 4.1 Authority, Accountability, and Responsibility
• 4.2 Accountability for Nursing Judgments, Decisions, and Actions
• 4.3 Responsibility for Nursing Judgments, Decisions, and Actions
• 4.4 Assignment and Delegation of Nursing Activities or Tasks
• Provision 5
• 5.1 Duties to Self and Others
• 5.2 Promotion of Personal Health, Safety, and Well-Being
• 5.3 Preservation of Wholeness of Character
• 5.4 Preservation of Integrity
• 5.5 Maintenance of Competence and Continuation
• of Professional Growth
• 5.6 Continuation of Personal Growth
• Provision 6
• 6.1 The Environment and Moral Virtue
• 6.2 The Environment and Ethical Obligation
• 6.3 Responsibility for the Healthcare Environment
• Provision 7
• 7.1 Contributions through Research and Scholarly Inquiry
• 7.2 Contributions through Developing, Maintaining, and Implementing Professional Practice Standards
• 7.3 Contributions through Nursing and Health Policy Development
• Provision 8
• 8.1 Health Is a Universal Right
• 8.2 Collaboration for Health, Human Rights, and Health Diplomacy
• 8.3 Obligation to Advance Health and Human Rights and Reduce Disparities
• 8.4 Collaboration for Human Rights in Complex, Extreme, or Extraordinary Practice Settings
• Provision 9
• 9.1 Articulation and Assertion of Values
• 9.2 Integrity of the Profession
• 9.3 Integrating Social Justice
• 9.4 Social Justice in Nursing and Health Policy
• Afterword
• Glossary
• Timeline: The Evolution of Nursing’s Code of Ethics