HA LEC

• Values


  Personal beliefs about truth and worth of behaviors, thought, objects
• Beliefs


  Interpretation or conclusions that people accept as true, based on faith rather than fact
• Attitude


  A psychological construct, a mental and emotional entity that inheres in, or characterizes a person, acquired through experiences
• Value system


  Basic to a way of life, give direction to life, form the basis of behavior especially used in decision making
• Personal values development


  • Individual social traditions
  • Cultural, ethnic religious norms
• Professional values development


  • Socialization into nursing profession
  • Established code of ethics
  • Faculty and other nurses
  • Clinical and life experiences
• Values clarification


  1. Choosing (Cognitive) - Beliefs are chosen freely, without outside pressure, from among alternatives, after reflecting and considering consequences

  2. Prizing (Affective) - Chosen beliefs are prized and cherished

  3. Acting (Behavioral) - Chosen beliefs are affirmed to others, incorporated into one's behavior, repeated consistently in one's life
• Purpose of clarifying client values

  Client's values influence and relate to problem
• Process of clarifying client values

  1. List alternatives

  2. Examine possible consequences of choices

  3. Choose freely; feel good about choice

  4. Affirm choice; act on choice

  5. Act with pattern
• Nurses need to reflect on

  • Values about life, death, health, and illness
  • Personal and professional values
• Essential nursing values

  • Altruism
  • Autonomy
  • Human dignity
  • Integrity
  • Social justice
• Altruism


  A concern for welfare and well being of others in professional practice
• Autonomy


  The right to self-determination, respecting patients' rights to make decisions about their healthcare
• Human dignity


  Respect for inherent worth and uniqueness of individuals and populations
• Integrity


  Acting in accordance with an appropriate code of ethics and accepted standards of practice
• Social justice


  Acting in accordance with fair treatment regardless of economic status, race, ethnicity, age, citizenship
• Behavior that may indicate unclear values
• Ethics


  (a) A method of inquiry that helps people to understand the morality of human behavior

  (b) The practices or beliefs of a certain group

  (c) The expected standards of moral behavior of a particular group as described in the group's formal code of professional ethics
• Bioethics


  Ethical issues that occur in nursing practice
• Nursing ethics


  Private, personal standards of what is right and wrong in conduct, character, and attitude
• Morality


  Standard of right and wrong, deciding own action when facing ethical issues that surround sensitive areas
• Nurses should distinguish between morality and law, and between morality and religion
• Moral principles


  Statements about broad, general, philosophical concepts that provide the foundation for moral rules, which are specific prescriptions for actions
• Autonomy


  The right to make one's own decisions, recognizing that each client is unique, has the right to be who that individual is, and has the right to choose personal goals
• Nonmaleficence


  The duty to "do no harm", including intentionally causing harm, placing someone at risk of harm, and unintentionally causing harm
• Beneficence


  The duty to "do good", to implement actions that benefit clients and their support persons
• Justice


  Fairness, making decisions in which a sense of justice should prevail
• Veracity


  Being faithful to agreements and promises
• Unintentional harm


  Occurs when the risk could not have been anticipated
• Nonmaleficence


  Means "doing good"
• Beneficence


  Nurses are obligated to implement actions that benefit clients and their support persons
• Doing good


  Can also pose a risk of doing harm
• Justice


  Frequently referred to as fairness
• Fidelity


  Being faithful to agreements and promises
• Veracity


  Telling the truth
• Nursing code of ethics

  A formal statement of a group's ideals and values that reflects their moral judgments over time and serves as a standard for their professional actions
• The ANA first adopted a Code for Nurses in 1950
• Purposes of nursing codes of ethics

  • Inform the public about the minimum standards of the profession and help them understand professional nursing conduct
  • Provide a sign of the profession's commitment to the public it serves
  • Outline the major ethical considerations of the profession
  • Provide ethical standards for professional behavior
  • Guide the profession in self-regulation
  • Remind nurses of the special responsibility they assume when caring for the sick
• Many nursing problems are not moral problems at all, but simply questions of good nursing practice
• Moral situation


  A difficult choice exists between actions that conflict with the needs of one or more persons, moral principles or frameworks exist that can be used to provide some justification for the action, the choice is guided by a process of weighing reasons, the decision must be freely and consciously chosen, and the choice is affected by personal values