Challenges in The Developing Ethical Practice in Health Care Essay

Challenges in The Developing Ethical Practice in Health Care - Essay Example The ethical practice in health care industry faces different challenges each day. Given are some common scenarios that nurses encounter, and how it is being handled. II. The Foundation of the Code of Ethics The set of rules is widely known as the â€Å"code of ethics.† The word â€Å"ethics† is derived from Greek terminology ethos, which implies conduct and character, among many others, such as practices and habitual operation. It is a universal code practiced by many nurses all over the world with a common goal in line with the â€Å"Nightingale Pledge,† which was first used in 1893. The pledge is the physician’s counterpart of the â€Å"Hippocratic Oath.† An ethical practice in the nursing field includes basic ethical obligations, which nurses are presumed to follow. Nurses are responsible for how they interact in terms of offering comfort and respecting their patient’s requests, their patients’ family members and/or friends, communi ty, and colleagues, in a professional manner (Canadian Nurses Association, 2008, p. 2). A responsible nurse is a good nurse; being responsible is an indispensable trait since an ethical practice is merely a guiding principle to help nurses in decision-making, and therefore, it is the nurse’s decision to whether or not follow and practice the ethical code. The Canadian Nurses Association (2008) believed that in order for the ethical practice to be considered as such, these factors have to be weighed: the nurses’ word to do good; views on ethical topics; and his or her interrelationship communication skills, to deal either in an individual or a group of people who requires medical attention (p. 4). Moral integrity is one’s ability to keep their ethics intact under any circumstances. III. Moral Identity in Ethical Practice Nurses give qualified and ethical treatment filled with compassion. A lot of professions, especially the ones in the non-medical field, often do not have guiding principles to the extent of the ethical code being practiced in the nursing field. Whereas the same level of compassion is not really needed in other professions, as mentioned in the Canadian Nurses Association (2008), one of the nurses’ roles is to deliver compassionate service by talking in a sensible manner that communicates care and act in a way that shows empathy (p. 8). Empathy and compassion allow nurses to even feel the patient’s pain to some degree, which is a valuable trait, because it shows the human element in communicating caring is evident. A. Moral Identity Moral identity is an intellectual depiction of a person’s ethical character, which is innate by nature and projected externally (McFerran, Aquino, & Duffy, 2010). Its blueprint is characterized by the actions and the corresponding people involved in it, such as colleagues, the organization, or even the society in general. As an example, based on the code of ethics, a critical care nurse, according to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (2012) may intervene when the patient’s interest is in question, as in the case of patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Similarly, they can speak on a patient’s behalf according to the patient’s beliefs and values. The importance of getting compassion from someone has