Ethics
Ethics includes values, codes, and principles that govern decisions in nursing practice, conduct, and relationships. Skill and knowledge in resolving conflicts related to role obligations and personal beliefs are necessary. The CNL is able to identify potential and actual ethical issues arising from practice and help clients and other health care providers address such issues; therefore, knowledge of ethics and ethical decision making is critical. The CNL serves as a client advocate within the health care delivery and policy systems. In addition, the CNL interfaces between the client and the health care delivery system to protect the rights of clients and to effect quality outcomes.
Course work or clinical experiences should provide the graduate with the knowledge and skills to:
• clarify personal and professional values and recognize their impact on decision making and professional behavior;
• apply a professional nursing code of ethics and professional guidelines to clinical practice;
• apply an ethical decision-making framework to clinical situations that incorporates moral concepts, professional ethics, and law and respects diverse values and beliefs;
• apply legal and ethical guidelines to advocate for client well-being and preferences;
• apply communication, negotiation, and mediation skills to the ethical decision-making process;
• demonstrate accountability for one’s own practice;
• take action to prevent or limit unsafe or unethical health and nursing care practices by others;
• enable individuals and families to make quality-of-life and end-of-life decisions and achieve a peaceful death;
• assume responsibility for lifelong learning and accountability for current practice and health care information and skills;
• identify and analyze common ethical dilemmas and the ways in which these dilemmas impact client care;
• evaluate ethical methods of decision making and engage in an ethical decision making process;
• evaluate ethical decision making from both a personal and organizational perspective and develop an understanding of how these two perspectives may create conflicts of interest;
• identify areas in which a personal conflict of interest may arise and propose resolutions or actions to resolve the conflict;