They have to maintain professional boundaries

Running Head: ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
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Author’s Note

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES1
Introduction
Nurses and midwives have to follow several principles and guidelines in their nursing
practice as it is a part of their professional development. They have to maintain professional
boundaries as well as work for the welfare of the patients by following the ethical principles. It is
extremely necessary to perform according to the professional boundaries because it affects the
growth of nurse in the career aspect. The professional boundary of a nurse includes the patient’s
vulnerability and the nurse’s power, which has to be in a balance and both should not enter into
each other’s space. The protocol and guidelines have to be followed to maintain this boundary as
it can be crossed if the ethical principles are not utilized in their daily interactions and
communication (Ingham-Broomfield, 2017). Therapeutic communication is a usual routine that
is followed by the nurses, which helps them to express themselves in an appropriate manner and
it also explores the preferences of a person, which increases their customer satisfaction. The care
setting has to be maintained involving people of different health professionals without crossing
the boundaries of professionalism (Kowitlawakul et al., 2014). The cultural competence of
patients has to be respected so that it does not violate their ethical principles, which has to be
used at all times. The Singapore Nursing Board has implemented several laws and ethics that has
to be maintained by the nurses as a professional etiquette, which will be discussed in this paper.
Discussion
The codes have been implemented by the Singapore Nursing Board for the nurses and the
midwives as it helps them to set out a professional conduct with ethical values and practice
standards that has to be acted upon. Proper decision making and therapeutic communication are
all a part of maintaining professional boundaries. The regulation of nursing practice has a

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES2
framework that is provided by the Code and if the nurses are found to do any misconduct then
they have to face disciplinary actions against them. The Code has four key ethical and regulatory
provisions that includes Nurses/midwives and people, nurses/midwives and their practice,
nurses/midwives and their professions, nurses/midwives and co-workers. All these four
principles has to be followed to maintain professional boundaries (Ayre & Bee, 2014). The first
principle focus on respecting people because that is the foundation of their profession. Nurses
have to respect the patient’s values, needs and rights that includes providing care for them
without any prejudice or unfair treatment irrespective of their gender, religion, ethnicity,
economic or social status, and any other preference or attribute (Bowrey & Thompson, 2014).
They have to treat people with compassion, kindness and respect, be considerable towards their
cultural rights and sensitivities when planning care and health needs for them. The priority
towards a person’s values, feelings and wishes has to be thought about when the person is being
dealt with. Coming up with an appropriate care plan during palliative care so that people in their
death bed can go through dignified and supportive care during their end of life. The second
principle is to promote and respect the autonomy and right to self-determination in people that
includes taking the permission of patients before making any decisions or planning treatment
procedures. The determination of their treatment plan is dependent on the patient’s choice, which
has to be respected (World Health Organization, 2017). They have to be informed about the care
options that are available to them, help other health professionals to find reliable data from
official sources, wait for an individual with impaired decision making capabilities to regain their
capacity in the future so that their decision is given importance, guiding and encouraging a
patient to participate for improving his or her ability in decision making and most importantly to
take part in acts that is affecting their wellbeing. Nurses have to also seek consent of patients or