ANA and the Nine Provisions The American Nursing Association (ANA) is a professional organization that supports over 3. 1 million nursing professionals in the areas by providing high standards of nursing practice, supporting the rights of nurses in the workplace, exhibiting a progressive and sincere view on nursing, and by raising awareness regarding regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. (American Nurses Association, 2013) In 2001, the ANA presented its updated version of the Code of Ethics for the nursing field. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 7) The Code of Ethics contains nine provisions which illustrate the responsibilities the nurse should emulate while upholding professional ethical practices and providing quality care and for her patients, their families and his/her colleagues. (American Nurses Association, 2013)
Provision
The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual unrestricted by considerations for social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems. Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 57) The nurse showed compassion and consideration while providing care for the obese patient with the open wound. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 57) She refrained from gawking at the patient as well as protected her privacy and dignity by closing the door and being considerate. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 57) The author’s two year old daughter (Bella) had an active case of MRSA for five months. On a particular visit one of the doctors had cut a large incision and placed a vessel loop to maintain drainage.
Bella ripped out the vessel loop leaving a large wound in her inguinal area. Due to how small she was many and the training hospital she was in, many residents came in to take a look. Bella’s nurse demonstrated consideration for this small two year olds feelings and insisted that instead of ten doctors coming in individually that they all come in at one time. This prevented Bella from a lot of pain and well as emotional stress.
Provision
The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community. Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 59) The nurse is showing her commitment to honor Mr. Keith’s wishes even though she may or may not agree with it. Although she may acknowledge the families concerns and wishes, her top priority is to Mr. Keith. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 59) A patient in the oncology wing has decided that they no longer want to continue their chemotherapy. They state that it is too painful and they would much rather live out the rest of their life at home in peace. The patient’s grandson disagrees with this and wishes for the continuation of her treatment.
The grandson had power of attorney but since the patient was still competent to make her own decisions, the nurse honored the wishes of the patient. She took the time to sit down with the patient’s grandson and explain the patient’s wishes as well as answer every question he had. Provision 3 The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 59) A nursing student promoted the confidentiality of his patients by maintaining discretion regarding who does and does not view patient information.
He upheld the ethical principle behind HIPPA and thus promoted patient privacy. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 59) An 18 year old female went to see her nurse practitioner upon realization that she was six weeks late for her period. A week later a woman claiming to be the patient’s mother called the doctor’s office requiring information regarding her daughters visit. Although the lady stated she was the patient’s mother, the patient was eighteen years of age and had not requested her information be given to her mother.
The nurse on the phone kindly explained that she could not give out that information as it would be a violation of HIPPA. The nurse protected the patient’s privacy and promoted confidentiality by keeping the patients information safe.
Provision
The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks consistent with the nurse’s obligations to provide optimum patient care. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 9) The nursing student realized that she wasn’t an expert in pharmacokinetics and requested the help of a pharmacist to provide quality care for her patient. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 59) Delegation is a huge responsibility and should never be taken lightly. The duty of the nurse is to ensure the patient receives quality care. This means delegating responsibilities to others to ensure that care is met. If a nurse feels she is unsure of a certain area of care, that nurse is obligated to find the precise person who can provide that care.
The author’s daughter (Bella) was in the hospital for a reoccurring MRSA infection. When the nurse walked in the door they were asked a question regarding infectious disease protocols and how best to handle the situation. Instead of giving an answer they thought might be correct, the nurse requested that an infectious disease doctor be called in to answer all questions concerning the patient.
Provision
The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth. Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 61) The oncology nurse showed personal and professional growth for herself and her whole floor by making the recommendation of continued education in the area of long term pain medication management on the oncology floor. She noticed there was a deficit amount of expertise in that area and she addressed it. This will go a long way to providing quality care for her oncology patients. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 61) While working at Advanced Medical Transport (AMT), this author noticed a lack of understanding on how to effectively and efficiently use the portable EKG machines.
These were new products and although everyone at the company knew how to utilize an EKG machine, not many of them knew what to do if it wasn’t calibrated. This author orchestrated several classes on how to effectively calibrate the EKG machines as well as what to do if their unit was not working properly.
Provision
The nurse participates in establishing, maintaining, and improving health care environments and conditions of employment conducive to the provision of quality health care and consistent with the values of the profession through individual and collective action. Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 61) The nurse on the night shift noticed a pattern of medication shortages that were occurring frequently.
The nurse brought the issue to the attention of her superior who quickly and efficiently implemented a plan to get the problem resolved. They constructed a paper trail that showed the shortage and took in to the appropriate staff to have the shortage resolved. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 61) A good example of this would be Florence Nightingale who was the founding advocate for sanitation within the nursing field. Chitty & Black, 2011, p. 30) Just as Florence Nightingale championed for cleaner sanitation within hospitals and medical settings, Methodist College has decided to take a step in the same direction. A new recent installment of hand sanitizers have been strategically placed at most doors and entry ways of Methodist College. Being up and coming medical professionals, it is important to promote healthy sanitization early so in the future we will already be armed with a tactic to prevent unnecessary spreading of germs to our patients.
Provision
The nurse participates in the advancement of the profession through contributions to practice, education, administration, and knowledge development. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 62) Nurse Angostino and Nurse Beckham demonstrated a desire to continue their education and to share the information they learned with others. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 62) One of the most important aspects of knowledge is that it be shared so others can learn from it. After the nurses attended the conference they published their knowledge of the information so that others could benefit too. Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 62) Marianne Acerboni is a cardiac nurse in California. Due to the constant changing of the medical field, she would attend conferences regarding cardiology on a monthly basis. She then held continuing education classes at the hospital for her fellow employees so that they may also benefit from the information that she obtained.
Provision
The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public in promoting community, national, and international efforts to meet health needs. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 2) A medical office nurse is faced with a decision whether to follow the regulations of her office or provide for a patient who is indigent. It does not say how she handled the situation but instead it asks what the reader would do. In the case of nurse Zoloff, she is probably better off referring the patient to the emergency room (ER). Even though the patient may not be experiencing an emergency, the ER will accept the patient regardless if she can pay or not. (Scension Health, 2013) In this case nurse Zoloff collaborates with the ER to ensure the patient of medical care.
It may not feel right to nurse Zoloff to have to turn away a patient but nurse Zoloff wouldn’t be able to help any patients if she lost her job.
Provision
The profession of nursing, as represented by associations and their members, is responsible for articulating nursing values, maintaining the integrity of the profession and its practice, and shaping social policy. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 63) The group of nurses who drafted the statement on genetic technologies and utilized their own time to do so were representing their nursing values by maintain the integrity of their profession. Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 63) They showed initiative and a desire to want to better their profession and the people within it. An example of this would be the code of ethics put out by the ANA. In 1926, the ANA established their first code of ethics. (American Nurses Association, 2013) It took several highly qualified nurses to devote their time and energy into establishing the code of ethics that would end up benefiting the entire nursing profession. (American Nurses Association, 2013)
The ANA code of ethics was established to provide ethical expectations for the nursing profession and the public. It is a public expression of the standards, responsibilities and commitment that we as nurses should be held accountable for. (American Nurses Association, 2013) Providing quality care for the patient, their families and the community should be a nurse’s top priority and the ANA code of ethics is the map that leads nurses in the right direction.
References
- American Nurses Association. (2013).
- About ANA. Retrieved from Nursing World: http://www.nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/AboutANA Bosek, M. &. (2007).
- The Ethical Component of Nursing Education. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Chitty, K. &. (2011).
- Professional Nursing: Concepts & Challenges. Maryland Heights: Saunders Elsevier. Fowler, M. (2010).
- Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurses. Silver Spring: American Nursing Association. Scension Health. (2013).
- Emergency medical Treatment and Active labor Act (EMTALA). Retrieved from Scension Health: www.ascensionhealth.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=146&Itemid=172
