CHAPTER 1. Professional standards and the requirement to be ethical
L earning objectives
▪ Locate the code of conduct, code of ethics and related standards of practice developed by the relevant peak nursing organisations in the jurisdiction/state/country of your practice, and which you are expected to uphold as a professional nurse.
▪ Identify the ethical standards and ethical competencies expected of professional nurses in the jurisdiction/state/country of your practice.
▪ Discuss why, if at all, nurses should uphold the standards of ethical conduct prescribed by peak nursing organisations.
▪ Reflect critically on why, if at all, the practice of nursing is a moral undertaking.
I ntroduction
From the moment a nurse enters into professional practice she or he is bound by strict standards of professional conduct. The standards of conduct expected of professional nurses are stated publicly in a range of documents including formally endorsed professional codes of conduct, codes of ethics, competency standards, and guidelines and position statements formulated on a range of issues relevant to the profession and practice of nursing. For example, nurses in Australia are bound by the standards of conduct expressed in the following documents published by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC):
▪ Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia (2008a)
▪ National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse, 4th edn (2006a)
▪ National Competency Standards for the Enrolled Nurse (2002)
▪ National Competency Standards for the Nurse Practitioner (2006b)
Note: These can be viewed at: http://www.anmc.org.au
Depending on the jurisdiction in which they are registered, nurses are also obliged to follow various guidelines set down by their local nurse registering authority. For example, nurses working in the Australian states of New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA), the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT) are bound respectively by the various standards, policies and guidelines prescribed by those authorities (see Box 1.1).
Box 1.1
States
New South Wales
Nurses and Midwives Board NSW —http://www.nmb.nsw.gov.au/
Queensland
Queensland Nursing Council —http://www.qnc.qld.gov.au/
South Australia
Nurses Board of South Australia —http://www.nursesboard.sa.gov.au/
Tasmania
Nurses Board of Tasmania —http://www.nursingboardtas.org.au/
Victoria
Nurses Board of Victoria —http://www.nbv.org.au/
Western Australia
Nurses Board of Western Australia —http://www.nbwa.org.au/
Territories
Australian Capital Territory
Nurse and Midwifery Board of ACT —http://www.actnmb.act.gov.au/
Northern Territory
Health Professions Licensing Authority —http://www.nt.gov.au [follow the links]
A notable feature of the respective standards, policies and guidelines that have been operationalised by local nurse registering authorities in Australia in recent years is the increasing emphasis they have placed on the ‘establishment and maintenance of appropriate professional behaviour in a therapeutic relationship between a nurse and client in order to facilitate safe and effective care’ (Nurses Board of SA 2002). These guidelines seek to alert and remind nurses of the serious consequences that can and do occur when professional boundaries are crossed both inadvertently and deliberately (see Box 1.2).
Box 1.2
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New South Wales
Nurses and Midwives Board NSW
– Boundaries of Professional Practice: Guidelines for Registered Nurses, Registered Midwives and Enrolled Nurses (1999)
Queensland
Queensland Nursing Council
– Professional Standards Policy (2003)
– Queensland Nursing Council and Health Practitioners Boards’ Statement on Sexual Relationships between Health Practitioners and their Patients (2000)
