Running head: THE NINE PROVISIONS OF ETHICS 1

The Nine Provisions of the America Nurses Association

[Student’s Name]

[Institutional Affiliation]
THE NINE PROVISIONS OF ETHICS 2

The Nine Provisions of the America Nurses Association

Introduction

Ethics is an integral part of any profession, nursing being one of them. Nursing as a
profession has a distinguished history of showing concern and care for the sick, injured or
vulnerable individuals or community (Bishop, & Scudder, 2001). Nursing entails the prevention
of illness, protection and restoration of health I the care of a community or individuals. Nursing
code of ethics makes it clear the primary goals, values and the obligations of individuals who
become nurses. Individuals who become nurses are expected to adhere to these codes of ethics
any time they are engaged in their work. Nursing code of ethics also serve as an expression to
nursing’s own understanding to its commitment to the community (Lachman, 2006). There are
basically nine provisions guarding the America Nurses Association (ANA). These provisions are
divided into three parts with the first three provisions defining the fundamental values and also
the commitment of the nurse to his or her work. The next three provisions address the boundaries
of duty and the loyalty of the nurse to the profession while the last three address duties beyond
nurse patient encounter.

First provision:

The nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and
unique attributes of every person (American Nurses Association, 2005)-This provision requires
the nurses to respect worth, dignity and human rights of all their patients. This provision also
establishes the delivery of the nursing services to all patients without prejudice. In planning
healthcare to give to a patient, there is need to consider his religious beliefs, his lifestyle and
values. Irrespective of the illness of the patient, the nurse should respect the worth, and dignity of
the patient (Lachman, 2006). The principle also requires nurses to maintain compassionate and
caring relationships with colleagues and others.

Second provision:

The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group,
community, or population-The primary commitment of a nurse is the receiver of the healthcare
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services, be it that the patient is an individual, community or a family member. This provision
ensures that conflict of interest is minimized. Should a conflict of interest arise, then the nurse
should strive to solve such conflicts in a way that ensures the patient safety and guard the
patient’s interest and in a way that preserve the nursing profession (Lachman, 2006). This
provision ensures that the nurse commits to providing the best healthcare to the patient involving
the patient in the planning of the healthcare services to be provided that best fit the patient. As a
nurse I will always put the interest of the patient before my personal interest.

Third provision

The nurse promotes, advocates for, and protects the rights, health, and safety of the
patient (American Nurses Association, 2005 - This provision requires the nurse to safeguard the
patients’ rights to privacy, and to keep and maintain in secrecy the confidential information he
has received from the patient. This provision also protects the participants in a research. All the
material information detailed explanations, such as; the negative effects, how the data will be
stored and other relevant information must be availed to the patient before participating in a
research. The patient also has a right to withdraw from the research without any adverse
consequences. Nurses have the legal right to question or reject participating in a research if they
deem the research to be morally objectionable. This provision also requires nurses to avoid
questionable practices and they have a duty to protect the patients, professional or the public
when a colleague’s practice in any sense appears to be impaired.

Fourth Provision

The nurse has authority, accountability, and responsibility for nursing practice; makes decisions;
and takes action consistent with the obligation to promote health and to provide optimal care-The
nurse is deemed responsible and accountable for individual professional practice and can an
appropriate delegation of task that provides the best healthcare to the patient. Individual nurses
are answerable to their own professional actions. The nurse has a right to assess their own level
of competency and to determine the extent to which they can provide healthcare and advice to
the patient. When the need of a patient is beyond their scope, they have a duty to refer the client
to a more competent person.
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Fifth Provision

The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to
promote health and safety, preserve wholeness of character and integrity, maintain competence,
and continues personal and professional growth – The nurse is required to have self respect and
to accord the same respect to humanity regardless of their illness or life situation. A nurse’s
personal life should be integrated with her professional life. A nurse should have high level of
integrity and avoid actions that threaten professionalism or individual character. A nurse has a
duty to involve herself in the maintenance of competency and the ongoing professional growth,
as competency enhances one’s self respect, professional status and increased confidence.

Sixth Provision

The nurse, through individual and collective effort, establishes, maintains, and improves
the ethical environment of the work setting and conditions of employment that are conducive to
safe, quality health care (Butts & Rich, 2016) . The nurses through individual and collective
actions should participate in improving and maintaining conducive working environment that
can improve quality of health care that is consistent to the nursing profession. The nurse is
responsible for creating a moral working environment that encourages interaction, respect and
support among colleagues. The nurse must maintain virtues that affirm and promote human
dignity. All individual nurses therefore have a duty to provide an environment in which all
employees are provided with fair hearing of complaints and are supported in their practice
according to the standards of care.

Seventh Provision

The nurse, in all roles and settings, advances the profession through research and
scholarly inquiry, professional standards development, and the generation of both nursing and
health policy (Butts & Rich, 2016) - This provision requires the nurse to participate in the
advancement of the nursing profession through education, knowledge development and
administrative roles. The nursing professionals are expected to engage in scholarly enquiry in
order to identify, evaluate and expand knowledge that relates to nursing and its practice.
Professional standards must and guidelines must be developed by the nursing body and these
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must reflect nursing responsibility to the society at large. The provision also gives the nursing
body power to enhance its professionalism by developing and implementing sound professional
standards in general administration and educational practices.

Eighth Provision

The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public to protect human
rights, promote health diplomacy, and reduce health disparities (Butts, & Rich, 2016) - The
nursing profession should be committed to promoting welfare, health and safety for all. The
nursing needs to be aware of broader health concerns such as pollution of environment, hunger
and starvation, lack of access to these healthcare facilities and to look for partnership to address
these issues. Nurses collectively and individually need to be knowledgeable of the health status
of existing community and threats to their safety. The nurses can assist in educating the public in
the best practices that promote healthy living. Nurses can also partner with other non
governmental bodies to address issues that hinder access to quality health care such as poverty
and violence. The nurses can also advocate for government equal distribution of health care
services, and together with other professional bodies, they can condemn violation of human
rights such as rape.

Ninth Provision

The profession of nursing, collectively through its professional organizations, must

articulate nursing values, maintain the integrity of the profession, and integrate principle of
social justice into nursing and health policy (Fowler, & American Nurses Association, 2008) - It
is the responsibility of the nursing association to communicate and affirm the values to its
members. The association also communicates nursing values that they deem will promote health
to the public (Butts, & Rich, 2016). The nursing body also continues to clarify the nursing’s
accountability to the public. It is the responsibility of the nursing body to speak on behalf of its
members in shaping healthcare within the country.

Conclusion
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The American Nurses Association code of ethics plays a very important role in shaping and
implanting professional ethics among the nursing profession. Without the nursing association, it
would be difficult to handles nurses grievances and the public complaints on professional
negligence involving nurses. These codes of ethics are to be understood as statements that
express the expectations of nurses’ ethical behavior at work place or in their personal lives. All
nurses and future professional nurses like me are required to keenly observe these ethic.
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References

American Nurses Association. (2005). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements.
Silver Spring, MD: Nursesbooks.org/American Nurses Association.

Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2016). Nursing ethics: Across the curriculum and into practice.

Bishop, A. H., & Scudder, J. R. (2001). Nursing ethics: Holistic caring practice. Sudbury, Mass:
Jones and Bartlett.

Fowler, M. D. M., & American Nurses Association. (2008). Guide to the code of ethics for
nurses: Interpretation and application. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.

Lachman, V. D. (2006). Applied ethics in nursing. New York: Springer Pub. Co.