Nursing Ethics

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume VIII, Issue 3, 1 July 1915, Page 148

Nursing Ethics

" Modern nursing may be said to have arisen from the foundations laid by the Nightingale School for Nurses in 1860, but it is only within the last 25 years that its existence as a profession has been fully recognised. The ethics, or rules of conduct which should guide it in all its relations, have grown up with it and are still growing. The fully -trained nurse of to-day, who is equipped with knowledge as well as experience, possesses power for good or ill far greater than that wielded by the untrained attendant of former days. Such power calls for control in some form or other, and this control must be exercised in the bonds of self-respect and loyalty, forged by the universal observance of the rules of conduct laid doAvn by the profession itself, for no legislature enactment can secure a high standard of ethics, though it may assist in its attainment. An interesting lecture bearing upon this question has recently been published by Dr. Kirkpatrick. Registrar of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland : he points out some of the many phases of a nurse's career which call for the exercise of selfcontrol and discretion in the course of public or private service. As every nurse must learn her work in a public institution before she is entrusted with the care of private patients, it is of the greatest importance that she should have the clearest conception of her personal position with, respect to both classes of service. In the hospital she is an officer of the establishment, and, like other officers, must be obedient to her superiors and loyal to the institution itself. Obedience to orders whether they seem good to her or not is essential, and any dissatisfaction that may be felt must not be expressed outside the

hospital. Above all, it is nee ssary that the nurse in hospital of whatever standing, should always remember that she stands to the patient in relation of host to guest. The patient enters the hospital as the guest of the authorities, who undertake to do their best for him in his trouble. Like other guests, he is expected to conform to the rules of the house of his host, but these rules need never be enforced with harshness, even though the patient may not at first recognise the need for their observance In the case of private nursing, these conditions are reversed. The nurse for the time being is the guest in the patient's house and is entertained as such, in return for her services. Hence she is bound to accommodate herself to the customs of the house and to strive to give as little trouble as may be consistent with the patient's needs. Whether in public or in private work professional secrecy must be observed as faithfully as in the profession of medicine, the church, or the law. The common tendency which womankind shares with mankind to gossip about the affairs of their neighbours, must be rigidly withstood -where the interests of patients or doctors are concerned. The qualities of tact, patience, sympathy and perseverance are not vouchsafed to everyone, but they are all required to the fullest extent before success in nursing can be achieved, in spite of complete training and the highest honours of examination. The honour of the nursing profession is in the hands of every one of its members, and each one should feel her responsibility in this respect." — From the Journal of the American Medical Association, Feb. 13 1915.