The 3Cs of Nursing and Their Relation to Codes of Conduct

This article discusses the 3Cs of nursing - compassion, competence, and commitment - and their relation to codes of conduct. It explores how these principles are essential in providing quality patient care and improving healthcare outcomes. The article emphasizes the importance of integrating these principles into nursing education and practice.

Introduction
Nurses’ professional NMBA codes of conducts are compilation of some rules
designed to guide the nurse to make appropriate decisions during critical situations in order to
provide a better health outcome and establish patients’ safety (Baillie, 2017). While handling
patients in their clinical practice, nurses follow the core principles which help in building
trustworthy relationship with the patients. The codes of conduct in the nursing profession
describe the professional behaviour which should be strictly followed by the nurses in their
profession. However, nurses work on their personal values and beliefs but, the principles or
the codes of conduct works as an additional support to improve the care experience of the
patients and at the same time, it also enhances the ability of the nurses (Chen et al., 2015). In
NMBA, some fundamentals of nursing are associated with the codes of conduct which
includes Roaches 6Cs. In this paper, the 3Cs will be discussed and they are compassion, care
and commitment.
3Cs of nursing and its relation to the codes of conduct
Compassion
In order to promote the patients’ health and wellbeing domain as per the NMBA
codes of conduct, compassion plays the role of an important element which should be
integrated by the nurses into the care they provide to the patients. The positions of the nurses
are at the centre of the care and they need to interact with patients from different
backgrounds, cultures as well as emotions. If the care is not compassionate or soulful, nurses
face various difficulties in establishing a trustful relationship with the patient which is highly
essential while dealing with them. For example, if the nurse is not soft-hearted and tender
with the patient, then the main health issues will not be known. Even, according to literatures,
compassion is a radical concept in nursing that promotes respect for the dignity of the

patients and also it leads to the satisfaction and care experience of the patients (Snelling,
2016). Effective considerate care has a profound effect on the patients’ perception regarding
healthcare quality as well as the treatment outcome and even, it also has a great impact on the
training provided to the patients according to the requirement which addresses the domain of
teaching, assessing and supervising domain of the NMBA codes of conduct. A good
relationship between the patients and the nurses is also effective in increasing the cooperation
of the patients with the medical team and it helps to address health and wellbeing domain of
NMBA. Therefore, compassion which is among the 6Cs is strongly associated with the codes
of conduct in nursing. However, many authors in their studies indicated the existence of
barriers perceived by the nurses and patients while providing holistic care to the patients due
to the existence of other administrative tasks (Barchard, Sixsmith, Neill & Meurier, 2017).
Authors also indicated the need of providing training to the nurses to enhance their skill in
providing compassionate care (Snelling, 2016). It will help them to be a successful nurse and
also enhance the experience of the patients.
Competence
The term competence and nurses should be strongly associated with each other as
the health and wellbeing of the other people is interlinked to this profession. Competence of
6Cs is an optimal approach that addresses NMBA codes of conduct in the domain of
professional behaviour as well as the health and wellbeing of the patients. Literatures clearly
indicated that competence is not a new concept in healthcare and an Australian study
established it as an integrated approach in the codes of conduct of nursing profession
(VanGraafeiland, Sloand, Silbert-Flagg, Gleason & Himmelfarb, 2019). Even, patients’
selection of hospital or visit hospital depends upon the care experience achieved from the
nurses as per their competence (Jefferies et al., 2018). Therefore, it is the prime responsibility
of the nursing educators to encourage the nurses for working with high efficiency to avoid

any legal compliance and to address professional behaviour, person-centred practice and
health and wellbeing of the patients which are the domains of NMBA codes of conduct
(Bruyneel et al., 2015).
Commitment
Commitment is another essential term of nursing practice that reflects the codes of
conduct of the nurses while providing care to different types of patients. In many literatures it
has been stated that commitment is responsible for the nursing competence which helps in
improving the patients’ perception towards the healthcare profession (Barchard, Sixsmith,
Neill & Meurier, 2017). It also reflects the loyalty and the dedication of the nurses towards
their profession. For example it can be said that in difficult situations, commitment towards
the patient ensures the patients’ safety and improved health outcome. Over the past few
decades, the concept of commitment in the nursing profession received considerable attention
and it acts as a most important factor to retain nurses in their profession (Hoeve, Brouwer,
Roodbol & Kunnen, 2018). Therefore, in order to address professional behaviour, legal
compliance, cultural practice and respectful relation which are the domains of codes of
conduct, nurses should strictly showcase their commitment towards their profession and they
should integrate this skill while receiving education regarding the profession. Patients will
also receive a better care experience and be satisfied with the care provided by the nurses
who are committed towards their profession.
Conclusion
Nursing is a crucial profession which requires an appropriate amount of professional
skills and knowledge as patients’ health is dependent on this. 6Cs of nursing is associated
with the domains of NMBA codes of conduct followed by the nurses in their profession. This

paper however discussed 3Cs and provided evidence regarding the necessity of the
establishment of these into the nursing profession to make it more effective.

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