Code of Ethics and Conduct for European Nursing

Abstract

A main identifying factor of professions is professionals' willingness to comply with ethical and professional standards, often defined in a code of ethics and conduct. In a period of intense nursing mobility, if the public are aware that health professionals have committed themselves to the drawing up of a code of ethics and conduct, they will have more trust in the health professional they choose, especially if this person comes from another European Member State. The Code of Ethics and Conduct for European Nursing is a programmatic document for the nursing profession constructed by the FEPI (European Federation of Nursing Regulators) according to Directive 2005/36/EC On recognition of professional qualifications , and Directive 2006/123/EC On services in the internal market, set out by the European Commission. This article describes the construction of the Code and gives an overview of some specific areas of importance. The main text of the Code is reproduced in Appendix 1.

The development of ethical guidelines for nurses’ collegiality using the Delphi method

“…Also the guidelines have to be tested in practice in order to find out how useful they are for management, education, and clinical practice. 44,45,50 In future, longitudinal research on the practical awareness of guidelines and their use is needed.…”

Proposing Codes of Ethics for Iranian Nurses

“…Western ethical views are mainly litigious-based with greater focus of the patient's right and informed consent (Sasso, Stievano, Gonzalez-Jurado, & Rocco, 2008). But, in a paternalistic society such as Iran, decision-making power is willingly given to the senior male member of the family, befitting a masculine medical community.…”

Comparison of nurse educators’ and nursing students’ descriptions of teaching codes of ethics

“…A reversed situation would be awkward and certainly suggest some confusion in the implementation of the teaching. Nursing Ethics 18 (5) It is positive that educators' and students' emphasis of teaching contents were aligned. First, it corroborates the notion that educators teach contents which they indicated in their responses.…”

“…Students who assessed the educators' knowledge as less adequate brought up educators' lack of touch with nursing practice, the importance of educators' personal pedagogic qualities, deficiencies in the use of effective teaching methods, and lack of time resources allocated to ethics. Nursing Ethics 18 (5) concepts, codes of other health care professionals, as well as laws and agreements (t ¼ -1.971--3.899 P < 0.001-0.050), but had less impact on teaching of statements of the codes. Item-related Chi-square-tests revealed several statistically significant values between educators' demographics and teaching of the codes, but these associations had no practical relevance.…”

“…Nursing Ethics 18 (5) A total of 183 educators and 214 students participated. Educators' and students' response rates were 29% and 27% respectively.…”