Practical use of the nursing code of ethics: part I

The Code (ANA, 2001) provides the nurse guidance for legal and ethical responsibilities to patients and, in the broader sense, to society. The first provision calls for honoring the human dignity in all patients and colleagues. It lays the groundwork for the importance of the essential ethical principle of autonomy, the right to self-determination. The second provision describes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and significance of appropriate nurse-patient boundaries. The importance of privacy and confidentiality in the nurse-patient relationship is the focus of the third provision. Without the nurse's honoring of privacy, the patient would be hesitant to share important information necessary to design an effective plan of care. The fourth provision primarily focuses on the importance of accountability for personal actions and for the actions of those to whom the nurse has delegated. By meeting these obligations, the nurse will remain the most trusted health care professional.