The American Nurses Association Code Of Ethics In Nursing

The American Nurses Association code of Ethics was created as a guide to help nurses provide quality care while ensuring that all patients are protected and treated equally. Provision four of the ANA has four key points that emphasize the nurse’s responsibility and obligation to his or her patient. The first statement touches on the nurse’s authority, accountability and responsibility for the decisions being made. The second statement emphasizes the nurse’s responsibility to make decisions and take necessary actions to promote health (ANA, 2015, p4). The decisions made by the nurse have to be justifiable and must be patient care centered. Statement three of provision four focuses on the nurse’s responsibility in her actions, judgment, and actions (ANA, 2015, p4). An example of inadequate care would be a nurse administering the wrong medication to a patient. The last statement of …show more content…
Unlike the ANA and the NSNA, the ICN code of ethics does not focus on boundaries. ICN mainly focuses on patient needs and neglects the importance of boundaries between patient and coworkers. In addition, the ICN states that nurses and the society are responsible for supporting actions that will help people in need, but does not state what types of actions are being taken by the nurses (ICN,2017,p1). On the other hand, provision eight of the ANA codes of ethics defines health as a universal human right, making the need for nursing universal (ANA, 2015,p30). The ANA codes focuses on social determinants that might influence health while the ICN has a broad approach that covers different countries and cultures. Another difference is that the NSNA code of ethics consists of a grievance policy that protects student’s rights. The ICN does not clearly defines the procedure or codes in place for health care workers experiencing issues with substance abuse while the ANA and the NSNA code of ethics has a code in