LAW

Differentiate between the Law, Ethical Theories and Codes of Professional Practice

Differentiate between the Law, Ethical Theories and Codes of Professional Practice

It would be supportive for a nurse to understand ethics because nurses encounter many of the same ethical problems and questions as any human being. However, beyond that, because of the nature of their work, there are particular moral questions and problems that arise (Bishop and Scudder 1987, 34-43). An understanding of ethics can help a nurse get a clear view in these difficult cases of the issue. The law and ethics are not the same but often overlap and both should be taken into account in making difficult decisions.

The nursing profession worldwide has a rich and distinctive history of identifying and responding substantively to ethical issues in nursing and health care domains. Since the inception of modern nursing in the last century, nurses globally have taken seriously their moral responsibilities as health care practitioners; they have also taken seriously the issues which have emerged as a consequence of their attempts to fulfil these responsibilities effectively (Johnstone 1994, pp.6-13). As the nursing literature dating as far back as Florence Nightingale's (1970) foundational text Notes on nursing demonstrates, the early modern nursing profession was as much concerned with the ethical dimensions of promoting the wellbeing and welfare of people requiring and or receiving nursing and health care as it is today. Further evidence of this can be found in the impressive chronology of nursing literature published on the subject over the past century. As Jameton (1984, p. 36) observes, since 1900 'no decade has passed ... without publication of at least one basic text in nursing ethics' with one of the first discrete texts on nursing ethics being published as early as 1888. Notable among some of the earliest nursing ethics texts are: Luckes' (1888) Hospital sisters and their duties, Dock's (1900) Short papers on nursing subjects, Parson's (1916) Nursing problems and obligations, Hampton Robb's (1903) Nursing ethics: for hospital and private use, Aikens' (1916) Studies in ethics for nurses (revised five times and still available in 1943), Gladwin's (1930) Ethics talks to nurses, and Densford and Everett's (1947) Ethics for modern nurses: professional adjustments. The plethora of nursing journal articles and public addresses published on the subject at the turn of this century (Birnbach and Lewenson 1991, pp.197-240), and the now vast body of 'new' nursing ethics literature published over the past twenty years, expands this research of distinctive nursing ethics literature even further.

While it is conceded that some of the earliest discourses on nursing ethics and its practice might seem quaint by today's standards, it is important to note that others remain remarkably insightful, forthright, and visionary as examples to be given in this and subsequent research will show. Either way, it is important to treat these works in a way that reflects adequately their historical and cultural locations, and which does not undermine either the importance or significance of their moral intent even where their contents may be ...