Walden NURS3100 Week 2 Discussion Latest 2019 April

NURS3100 Issues/Trends in Nursing

Week 2 Discussion

The Most Trusted Profession

Nurses are the most honest and ethical professionals in America, according to Gallup polls for more than 12 years in a row. In 2014, 80 percent of Americans said that nurses have "very high" or "high" standards of honesty and ethics, compared with 7% and 8% ratings, respectively, for members of Congress and salespeople. According to Pamela Cipiriano, President of the 35th American Nurses Association (ANA) (2015, March 01), “The public places its faith in nurses to practice ethically.”

A patient’s health, autonomy, and even life or death can be affected by a nurse’s decisions and actions. The IOM’s recommendation to increase the role of nursing in both present and future health care practice underscores the nexus between the decisions and actions of nurses and the health and outcomes of the patients cared for by nurses.

The critical role of nurses in present and future health care makes it imperative that nurses be knowledgeable about the ANA’s Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements (2015) (the “Code”). As the cornerstone document of the nursing profession, the Code reflects the evolution of health care and considers the most current ethical challenges nurses face in practice. The Codeupholds the best interests of patients, families, and communities.