The document outlines the International Council of Nurses' (ICN) Code of Ethics for nurses. It discusses four main sections of the code: 1) Nurses and patients or other people requiring care or services, 2) Nurses and practice, 3) Nurses and the profession, and 4) Nurses and global health. For each section, it lists the guiding principles that nurses should uphold in their relationships with patients, in their nursing practice and professional responsibilities, and in promoting global health as a human right. The code aims to define ethical nursing practice and decision-making to meet high professional standards.

1. ICN Code of Nursing Ethics
Code of Ethics For Nurses
1
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

2. 2
Ethics of Nursing
• Ethics includes values, codes, and principles that govern
decisions in nursing practice and relationships
• Nursing Ethics is the discipline of evaluating the merits, risks,
and social concerns of activities in the field of nursing
• Ethical principles are necessary to guide to professional
development
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

3. 3
Code of Ethics for Nursing Students
Code of Academic and Clinical Conduct
•The code of Academic and Clinical conduct is based on
an understanding that to practice nursing as a student is
an agreement to uphold the trust with which society has
placed in us
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

4. 4
A CODE FOR NURSING STUDENTS
• Advocate the rights of all clients
• Maintain client confidentiality
• Take appropriate action to ensure the safety of clients, self , and others
• Provide care for the client in a timely, compassionate and professional
manner
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

5. 5
A CODE FOR NURSING STUDENTS
•Communicate client care in a truthful
•Promote excellence in nursing by encouraging
lifelong learning and professional development
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

6. 6
A CODE FOR NURSING STUDENTS
• Treat others with respect and promote environment that respects
human rights, values, an choice of cultural and spiritual beliefs
• Collaborate in every reasonable manner with the academic
faculty and clinical staff to ensure the highest quality of client
care
• Use every opportunity to improve faculty and clinical staff
understanding of the learning needs of nursing students
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

7. 7
A CODE FOR NURSING STUDENTS
• Encourage faculty, clinical staff, and peers to mentor nursing
students
• Refrain from performing any technique or procedure for
which the student has not been adequately trained
• Refrain from any deliberate action or omission of care in the
academic or clinical setting that creates unnecessary risk of
injury to client, self or others
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

8. 8
A CODE FOR NURSING STUDENTS
• Assist in ensuring that there is full disclosure and that
consent is obtained from clients regarding any form of
treatment or research
• Abstain from the use of alcoholic beverages or any
substances in the academic and clinical setting that impair
judgment
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

9. 9
Principles of Health Care Ethics
• Beneficence: means doing or promoting good in such a manner as
to safeguard and promote the interest and well being of patients and
clients
• Nonmaleficence means to avoid doing harm, to remove from harm,
and to prevent harm
• Harm can be physical and so include pain, disability, discomfort and
death but it can also be psychological and thus include mental stress
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

10. 10
Principles of Health Care Ethics...
• Autonomy and consent: Principles of self determination
• The cardinal principles of autonomy
• The right to full disclosure- the right to know
• The right to privacy
• The right to receive care and treatment
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

11. 11
Principles of Health Care Ethics...
• Justice: The principle of fairness is the basis for the
obligation to treat all clients equally and fairly
• Veracity: telling the truth. Clients prefer to receive
accurate information about their conditions and
prognosis even when the outlook is bleak
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

12. 12
Principles of Health Care Ethics...
•Privacy:
•To ensure that the patient’s body is appropriate
covered
•To establish a culture of privacy to ensure that
personal information of patients is kept as private as
possible
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

13. 13
• Confidentiality:
• To preserving the human dignity of patients
• Discussing clients outside the clinical setting, telling
friends or family about clients, or even discussing
clients in the elevator with other workers violates client
confidentiality and must be a voided
Principles of Health Care Ethics...
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

14. 14
Principles of Health Care Ethics...
• Responsibility: A nurse, who neglects to give a patient pain relief can
be said to have caused that patient harm
• Proving negligence (i.e. that the nurse is legally responsible)
• It is not only human beings who can cause something to happen, since
conditions (e.g. staff shortages, poor equipment, inadequate resources,
and so forth) may also cause accidents or result in a patient being
injured
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

15. 15
•Accountability
• Is about justifying actions, explaining why something
was (or was not) done
• The purpose of calling people to account for their
actions is therefore to establish whether they had good
enough reasons for acting in the way they did
Principles of Health Care Ethics...
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

16. 16
•FIDELITY
•The professional´s faithfulness or loyalty to
agreements & responsibilities accepted as
part of the practice of the profession
Principles of Health Care Ethics...
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

17. 17
• The nurses are always responsible for their behaviours
• Has to refuse to perform procedures for which they
haven´t been prepared
• Ignorance isn’t a legal defence. Neither will lack of
sleep or overwork be accepted as a legal reason for
carelessness about safety measures or mistakes
Be competent in your practice
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

18. 18
The ICN Code of Ethics
Nursing care is respectful of and unrestricted by
considerations of age, color, creed, culture, disability or
illness, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, politics,
race or social status
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta

19. International Council of Nurses (ICN)
Code of Ethics
• An international code of ethics for nurses was first adopted by
the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in 1953.
• It has been revised and reaffirmed at various times since,
most recently with this review and revision completed in
2021.
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta 19

20. PURPOSE OF THE CODE
• The ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses is a statement of the ethical
values, responsibilities and professional accountabilities of
nurses and nursing students1 that defines and guides ethical
nursing practice within the different roles nurses assume.
• It is not a code of conduct but can serve as a framework for
ethical nursing practice and decision-making to meet
professional standards set by regulatory bodies.
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta 20

21. •The ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses provides
ethical guidance in relation to nurses’ roles,
duties, responsibilities, behaviours, professional
judgement and relationships with patients, other
people who are receiving nursing care or
services, co-workers and allied professionals.
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta 21

22. ICN Code for Nurses-2012
- Nursing and People
- Nursing and society
- Nurses and profession
- Nurses and practice
- Nurses and co-workers
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta 22

23. Code of Ethics 2021
1. NURSES AND PATIENTS OR OTHER PEOPLE REQUIRING CARE OR
SERVICES
2. NURSES AND PRACTICE
3. NURSES AND THE PROFESSION
4. NURSES AND GLOBAL HEALTH
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta 23

24. 1. NURSES AND PATIENTS OR OTHER PEOPLE
REQUIRING CARE OR SERVICES
There are 11 points: 1-11
11. Nurses ensure that the use of technology and scientific advances
are compatible with the safety, dignity and rights of people. In the case
of artificial intelligence or devices, such as care robots or drones,
nurses ensure that care remains person-centred and that such devices
support and do not replace human relationships.
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta 24

25. 2. NURSES AND PRACTICE
• There are 12 points:
1. Nurses carry personal responsibility and accountability for ethical
nursing practice, and for maintaining competence by engaging in
continuous professional development and lifelong learning.
2. Nurses are accountable for data integrity to support and facilitate
ethical standards of care.
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta 25

26. 3. NURSES AND THE PROFESSION
There are 7 points:
1. Nurses assume the major leadership role in determining and
implementing evidence-informed, acceptable standards of clinical
nursing practice, management, research and education.
2. Nurses and nursing scholars are active in expanding research-based,
current professional knowledge that supports evidence-informed
practice.
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta 26

27. 4. NURSES AND GLOBAL HEALTH
There are 8 points:
1. Nurses value health care as a human right, affirming the right to
universal access to health care for all
2. Nurses uphold the dignity, freedom and worth of all human beings
and oppose all forms of exploitation, such as human trafficking and
child labour.
3. Nurses lead or contribute to sound health policy development
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta 27

28. Thank-you
Prof. Dr. RS Mehta 28