Law, Ethics and Professionalism in Nursing Practice

This article discusses the laws, ethics and professionalism in nursing practice. It explains the values and characteristics of professionalism that contribute to health care through collaboration, cooperation and therapeutic communication. It also covers the key principles implicating the legal, ethical and professional course of action and codes that corroborate the practice of registered nurses in Australia. The article also highlights the importance of evidence-based practice in nursing and the NMBA competency standards, codes of ethics and practice for the registered nurses.

Running head: LAW, ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM IN NURSING PRACTICE.
Law, Ethics and Professionalism in Nursing Practice
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Nursing practice is the habitual exercise of roles, responsibilities and activities that a
registered nurse is eligible, authorized and is competent to perform (Lewis & Squires, 2016). The
role of a nurse encompasses the care of a patient as an individual, family and community at
large. The care is individualized and is client-centered. The nursing practice is governed by a set
of laws, ethics and professional guidelines that determine the way care is administered in order to
ensure rights of each individual are maintained and that outcome is of best quality. The
governing criteria is in such a way that evidence based professionalism is administered to ensure
client needs are met and efficiency of the organization is accounted for. They ensure safety of the
client and the nurse at the same time. The laws, ethics and professional guidelines are
constructed based on a set of principles and values underpinning the code of conduct.
There are values and characteristics of professionalism that contribute to health care
through collaboration, cooperation and therapeutic communication. These values are; respect,
honesty, responsibility, fairness and compassion. In order for professional standards to be
observed in the healthcare, the registered nurse ought to show respect. Respect towards other
clinicians, the patient and any individual or group offering assistance towards care delivery. The
nurse should respect the cultures and embrace the diversity in customs regarding the patient and
the members of healthcare team. The nurse should respect the dignity and patient’s
confidentiality (Moss, Good, Gozal, Kleinpell & Sessler, 2016). Nurse should respect other
people’s responsibilities and expertise and work in collaboration to achieve high quality of care.
The nurse should be honest to self, the team members and the facility at large. Patient care
should be explained and the nurse should be answerable. Honesty is a key value in patient care
no matter the outcome. Honesty helps in building trust and confidentiality between the caregivers

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and the individuals receiving the care. This also contributes to maintenance of respect and
professionalism in the care for patient. In the healthcare field, the nurse is responsible for the
roles he is authorized. He is accountable for all the procedures and planning of patient care from
the time of contact till discharge. He is responsible to ensure collaborative planning and patient
care is administered to the patient. The nurse has a responsibility of ensuring the interests of the
patient and needs are satisfied through collaborative approach and a therapeutic relationship is
established. He is responsible to ensure quality standards of practice and ethical conduct is
maintained according to the code of conduct. He has a role in ensuring competence is applied in
the field and the team member are working in cooperation towards achieving the best care.
Fairness and justice in healthcare is a critical aspect. Regardless of the social status and condition
of the patient (Yanicki, Kushner & Reutter, 2015). To ensure collaboration the nursing fraternity
ensures no discrimination among patients. This assurance promotes patient cooperation and trust.
It encourages openness and confidentiality that at the end leads to better patient outcomes and
issuance of quality standards. Therapeutic relationship is successful when patients are treated
with fairness. Compassion and tenderheartedness is a core value when creating a therapeutic
relationship and in ensuring professionalism in the healthcare field.
The key principles implicating the legal, ethical and professional course of action and
codes that corroborate the practice of registered nurses in Australia are; nonmaleficience,
beneficence, Fidelity, autonomy and principle of totality and integrity (Preshaw, Brazil,
McLaughlin & Frolic, 2016). Nonmaleficience principle constrains one not to instill any
deliberate harm. This principle is based on four rules; the innate reason of an action is not wrong,
the intended goal is not bad, in an action the benefit exceeds the bad and a good outcome is not

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as a result of a bad effect. This principle underlies the legal and ethical professionalism as it
ensures no harm comes to the patient. It promotes competent actions and respect for one’s
dignity (Ong-Flaherty, Banks, Doyle & Sharifi, 2016). This principle explains the role of a nurse
in fighting for the rights of a patient and it helps in decision making as far as patient is
concerned. Each decision made by the health team should ensure the intended result is of benefit
to the patient. Beneficence is a principle that states that the nurse should always do good to the
patient. All actions done should be of benefit to the patient. It also helps during the decision
making process when handling option. The decision arrived at should be of benefit to the patient.
Fidelity is a principle of nursing that describes that a nurse should show loyalty, be truthful,
dedicated, fair and committed to the patient in the process of nursing care (Trobec & Starcic,
2015). The nurse ought to maintain confidentiality and privacy as far as patient feelings and
condition is concerned. The nurse ought to be honest and committed in offering competent and
quality care to ensure good patient outcome. Fidelity promotes collaboration from the patient and
underpins trust and confidentiality. Maximum cooperation from patient lead to a therapeutic
relationship hence promoting professional standards of care (Hanson et al., 2016). Autonomy
principle stating that the patient has a right to decision on the course of action. The patient has a
right to deny procedures and to choose the plan regardless of how the nurse views it. This
promotes patient collaboration after giving consent on the procedures. Autonomy also promotes
trust and confidentiality leading to quality standards of care. Justice means that patients should
be treated fairly without discrimination. Regardless of patient condition, the nursing care should
be fir and no individual should be looked down upon. This preserves the dignity of the patient
leading to quality outcomes. Principle of totality and integrity explain on the holistic care of an

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individual. It covers the emotional, social, physical and mental care of an individual and explains
how the aspects affects the wellbeing.
Evidence based practice encompasses how professionals make decisions by identifying
the sources of evidence available for a particular practice and analyzing its applicability
scientifically. The main purpose is to promote quality outcomes and eliminate negative practices
(Jirojwong, Johnson, & Welch, 2014). The practice also analyses patient traits and priorities.
This practice has its foundation in skills of academics and information literacy. Skills on the use
and application of research is included in the curriculum and builds a foundation for evidence
based practice since it prepares the learners on the best practices to perform to achieve better
patient outcomes. Information literacy programs are available to enroll individuals. Students
enrolled are found to portray better practices as far as evidence based care is concerned
(Castellan, Sluga, Spina & Sanson, 2016). Research has been included in the curriculum as a unit
where students critically identify a gap in the healthcare field and carry out studies to test the
hypothesis and come up with results on what should be added into practice and the safest
procedures with good patient outcomes. Students are allocated to facilities to acquire skills and
apply the theory learnt hence developing their knowledge on practice. This practical has in turn
boosted their confidence and motivated them to learn more.
NMBA Competency Standards, Codes of Ethics and Practice for the Registered Nurses
are present to evaluate the performance of nurses in the field and appraise them either by
promotion or incentives. The competency standards are; critical thinking and analysis of

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situations, collaboration and therapeutic care, evaluation of patient outcome, stipulation of safe
and up to task practice, construction of nursing practice plan, coordination and provision of
healthcare and instilling professionalism in practice (Halcomb, Stephens, Bryce, Foley, &
Ashley, 2016). In critical thinking and analysis, the nurse reflects on previous experiences and
uses available evidence in decision making. Nurse analyses cultural beliefs and ensures decision
made are in line with policies and legal concerns. The nurse keeps timely records of assessments
done and contributes to research. In therapeutic practice, the nurse establishes boundaries in the
nurse-patient relationship and communicates effectively to promote collaborative care
(Ignatavicius & Workman, 2015). The nurse acts as patients advocate and directs them towards
better healthcare to promote patient outcomes. The nurse coordinates with other clinicians and
supervises healthcare and referrals leading to recovery from unpleasant feelings. In developing a
plan for nursing practice, the nurse collects the cluster of cues and evidence from the patient and
investigations for planning (Grove, Burns & Gray, 2014). The nurse considers the desired goals
and priorities and plans in line with them. Nurse documents the nursing care given, evaluates the
patient’s condition and re plans according to the expected goals. Evaluation of outcome is
necessary in the nursing practice.
Evaluation enables one to assess the outcome of the patient, review the early plan and
consider re planning depending on the presentation of the patient (Fan, Wang, Chao, Jane & Hsu,
2015). In ensuring safe and quality care is given, the nurse practices in areas where he is
competent and uses the delegation principles to ensure patient is taken care of holistically. The
nurse inspects to ensure delegated work is accomplished and reports impending risks of the
patient. The nurses perform his duty based on the policies, ethical values and legislation laws. In

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professional practice, the nurse participates actively in patient care and receives feedback
regarding the prognosis of conditions (Blais, 2015). The nurse offers health education to the
patient and family at large and explains the condition and procedures to achieve understanding.
The nurse is guided by integrity to ensure better patient outcomes at the end of management
regime. The nurse is accountable and takes full responsibility in deeds and decisions made
regarding the patient wellbeing. In provision and coordination of care, the nurse uses available
evidence and holistic assessment to plan and prioritize care of the patient. The nurse uses
professional assessment protocols in collecting data from the patient to enable quality healthcare
provision. The nurse coordinates and consults other medical practitioners and works in
collaboration towards best patient outcome. Code of ethics explains that nurses esteem respect
and compassion for the patients (Senter et al., 2018). The nurse upholds the ethical issues for
patients, respect and embrace cultural differences in the society, are more concerned with holistic
care for patients and make use critical thinking during decision making.
Nursing practice revolves around laws, ethics and professionalism. The practice is
dynamic and keeps shifting due to the research and identifying gaps. Technology plays a major
role in the changing code of conduct and the policies governing nursing practice. Due to the
available ideas promoting evidence based practice, new techniques are being introduced in
healthcare facilities after careful analysis and clinical trials. The main aim is to promote patient
outcomes. The goals and outcomes remain constant but the underlying protocols keep advancing
in line with technology. Professionalism is guided by set of characteristics and values that
contribute to quality healthcare. The evidence based practice is prerequisite by skills and
information literacy to promote professional healthcare. The ethical, legal and professional care

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is governed by a set of principles that support them. These principles are constructed to ensure
good and quality patient outcome. Competency standards are applied in assessing the
performance and creativity of a nurse in the scope of practice. The standards are in line with the
legal, ethical and professional issues in nursing. They promote holistic approach, quality
standards of care and good patient outcomes.

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References
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