Ethics & Morals of CNAs

Ethics is one important aspect and is usually aligned with legal matters involving the determination of good and bad in health care. It is a branch of philosophy wherein professionals may be guided in doing the right thing in terms of situations that may arise. It is therefore an important tool in our day to day work in order for us to provide the necessary care and also make sure that we are not passing the scope and limitations of our profession. The principles of ethics may include beneficence, nonmaleficence, veracity and confidentiality.

When talking about beneficence, it is doing well to others especially to residents who are our clients in care. Confidentiality on the other hand is a principle where we promote privacy of resident including his name, his background and his medical condition. Nonmaleficence is another term for not doing harm thus making sure of the safety and security of the resident which could be done by following the guidelines of care and doing precautionary measures. Veracity is truthfulness which requires professionals to be consistent in telling the truth to the residents.

The nurses follow their code of ethics which guides them in giving the right care while also making sure that they are practicing in an ethical approach. These principles serve as a backbone of the nursing practice where nurses should follow. Nurses are tested on whether their practice is in the right way of ethical principles especially in the events that they may be encountering.

Examples of these instances would be doing the right thing without anyone looking, refusing gifts or favors from resident and their families, maintaining the right attitude in the facility, taking care of residents’ possessions and many others.

There are many ethical dilemmas that the world is facing today especially in the branch of health care. Dilemmas seen in the long-term health facilities has the same problems to those other health care settings such as quality of life, right way to health care, euthanasia and many others. Solving these kinds of problems cannot be done with one individual but with support and help from others. There may be limitations in what you know you can do therefore it is necessary to seek help and guidance from higher ups such as supervisors, colleagues, and even other professionals. You need their help and also the resources around you in order to solve these problems in health care.