Nursing: Nursing, Ethics and the Law

Whenever newspapers or other media carry stories about the public's perception of the level of ethics associated with various professions, nursing always rates very highly.Nurses deal with people, and often those with whom they deal are highly vulnerable. Nurses have a duty of care to patients, and their profession demands ethical behaviour and treatment of those in their care at all times.This programme explores ethics in nursing, with reference to the Australian Code of Nursing Ethics. It defines ethics, and explains why it is critical that nurses know about ethics and the standards of behaviour that are demanded by their profession.

To protect patient's interests in health care, principles of informed consent have been developed to ensure a person's right to decide the type of treatments they are prepared to receive. Patients see themselves as active participants in their health care and health care professions support this involvement. Informed consent not only protects the patients' rights, but also those of nurses and other health care professionals, from possible legal ramifications.

This is a unique, innovative professional nursing ethics textbook designed specifically for all practicing nurses and to meet the educational needs of all nursing students, including RN to BSN and RN to MSN students. Written by experts in the field, it discusses ethical concepts relevant to the registered nurse who has practiced for several years but is learning higher level concepts and applications.