Nurses are responsible for caring for patients during birth, death, illness, and healing. Professional values guide the decisions and actions that nurses make in their careers. If nurses know the decisions and actions to take, providing patients with exceptional care is possible.
The values that are the foundation of the nursing profession are altruism, autonomy, human dignity, and social justice.
First, altruism refers to the concern for the welfare and well-being of others without personal...

Ethical principles serve as the moral compass in the longstanding tradition of nursing, guiding healthcare professionals in their interactions with patients and families. These principles, namely autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and fidelity, provide a robust framework for navigating the ethical complexities of daily nursing practice.
Autonomy
Autonomy underscores the significance of a patient's self-determination and freedom from external control. In healthcare, respecting...

The Nursing Code of Ethics sets the ethical benchmark for the profession, and guides nurses in ethical analysis and decision making at the societal, organizational, and clinical levels. The code encompasses showing compassion and respect for the patient, their families, and communities in all circumstances while committing to providing patient-centered care. In addition, the code states that nurses must advocate for the patient by defending a cause or recommendation to protect their rights,...

Federal statutes profoundly impact nursing practice, providing critical guidelines to ensure patient care is equitable, accessible, and of the highest quality. The following laws address distinct aspects of healthcare provision and patient rights:

Quality control is one of the three cyclical quality assurance activities that help keep a system under statistical control. Typical quality control activities include creating quality control charts, conducting proficiency testing, and documenting and archiving results.
Quality control helps track data, visualize trends, and identify variations, making it easier to detect deviations that may affect the accuracy of an analysis. One way to do this is by generating a quality control chart, which...

The American Nurses Association (ANA) created and implemented the first nationally accepted Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. The Code of Ethics is a living document regularly updated by the ANA and establishes an ethical standard that is non-negotiable for nurses in all roles and settings.
The Code of Ethics provisions outline the nurse's duty to the patient, the healthcare team, the profession, and society. The Code's fundamental principles include advocacy,...