Hmm! A Facelift for the Nursing Profession?

“Ethics: The Value of Nursing Ethics. What About Nurse Jackie” is an article which contemplates many ethical dilemmas portrayed on television programs, and the overall public image on topics such as clinic competency, social welfare, and social injustices that occur in the nursing profession (Sorrell, 2009). One of the most prominent issues discussed in the article is the delivery of social justice in the nursing profession, and how it might be hindered in a work force that is confronted with “rising healthcare costs with limited healthcare resources” (Sorrell, 2009). Sorrell (2009) contends that, “nursing profession must move beyond feelings of loss and resistance to change,” from ignoring problems in an effort to portray nurses in always a positive light, as it is very dangerous. Sorrell (2009) advocates for the constitution of a mechanism that would allow nurses to dialogue with the public and each other about the real pressures that nurses faces, and ultimately, create a multifaceted platform for nurses to “actively write and produce a new script for health in America.”

Indeed, with Obama’s new healthcare system overhaul and the rising need for nurse professionals, a platform for discussing needed changes in the perception and code of nursing ethics becomes eminent. As reflected in Sorrell’s (2009) article, nurses have many faces, and it is nurses like Jackie who are obviously there for patients and recognizing that patients are more than just a set of symptoms. According to the American Nurses Association, nursing is a profession which encompasses the prevention of illness, the alleviation of suffering, and the protection, promotion, and restoration of health in the care of individuals, families, groups and communities (2010). A normative belief posited in the Code is that nurses ought to be compassionate - that is, nurses should work to relieve suffering (2009). As such, these roles of nurses posits factors that aid nurses to become leaders and models for the general public and the healthcare arena. Therefore, an opportunity to create a rich dialogue will only help further the cause of the nurses and value of nursing ethics that better serves the healthcare system and the public.

Social justice in the nursing profession not only testify to the importance of recognizing different stakeholders under a healthcare delivery entity, but also the act of carrying out the full weight of executing in the best interests of the patient according to the tenets of the Nursing Code of Ethics (The American Nurses Association, 2010). However, as Sorrell (2009) pointed out, Nurse Jackie testifies to the irony of the hospital administrator warning Jackie about the hazardous effects on working double shifts, where Nurse Jackie was asked to stay for a second shift afterwards. Acted out on the big screen, in Nurse Jackie’s second shift, she almost made a serious medication error and acted distinctly opposite of the traditional ethical practices in nursing. Under such circumstances, how would social justice be defined when such a myriad of distinct interests are played out across hospital administrators, patients, and Nurse Jackie herself?

While it is also specified in the code of nursing ethics that “nurses should resolve such conflicts of interest in ways that ensure patient safety, guard the patient’s best interests and preserve the professional integrity of the nurse,” oftentimes, such elements are precariously balanced (The American Nurses Association Inc., 2010). Such conflicts of interest are being played out on the big screens of the television program Nurse Jackie not only in the way which she acted autonomously, but also the way in which she diverges from the publicly and traditionally perceived roles of nursing. As explored in American Nurses Association’s publication, “Nursing’s social policy statement: The essence of the profession” (2010), it is expected for the nursing profession to act autonomously, and competence is a strong association with such autonomy. Yet, more often than not, such acts of autonomy often run into elements of conflict of interest with what is considered ethical or not.

Hmm. Indeed, the Code of Ethics for the nursing profession and its 9 major tenets are becoming more and more antiquated in the practice of healthcare delivery and guidance. The balancing act of acting according to the Code of Ethics is becoming harder and harder for nurses to follow. As explained by Fowler (2008), while the Code of Ethics for nurses is intended to be a living document, with health care becoming ever more complex, the basic tenets remain unchanged and becoming more and more obsolete. Furthermore, what was before considered as the duties and responsibilities of the nursing organization and professional group as a whole is now being increasingly tackled by individual nursing practitioners. Social ethics, as spread across the three disciplines of reform of nursing, value-based public discourse and social reform now have individual nurses as active players to shape the future of care (Fowler, 2012). As such, Fowler (2012) indicates that, the achieve social mandate of nursing, a critical perspective and commitment beyond the classic interpretation of distributive justice are required to aid in the fair distribution of resources, with no emphasis on the social condition of the individual.

In essence, as indicated by D'Antonio, P., Fairman, J. A., and Whelan, J. C. (2013), that the reason of the existence of nursing school was for the reparation of social injustice. While the nursing profession will undergo drastic changes as healthcare systems begin to evolve in the United States, it is inevitable that new changes will challenge the traditional ways in which the nursing profession tackles social justice. As such, it is more important now than ever that individual nurses, nursing associations and organizations, the health care system and the society come to an open discourse of providing a voice to better the nurse’s role in advocating and protecting the health, welfare, and social justice of the public.

References

American Nurses Association (2010). Nursing's social policy statement: The essence of the profession. Silver Spring, Md: American Nurses Association.

The American Nurses Association (2010, November 15). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statement. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics.pdf

Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2005). Nursing ethics: Across the curriculum and into practice. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett.

D'Antonio, P., Fairman, J. A., & Whelan, J. C. (2013). Routledge Handbook of the History of Nursing. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

Fowler, M. D., & American Nurses Association (2008). Guide to the code of ethics for nurses: Interpretation and application. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.

Fowler, M. D. (2012). Religion, religious ethics, and nursing. New York: Springer Pub. Co.

Slavik Cowen and Moorhead (2011).Current Issues in Nursing(8th ed). St. Louis; Mosby Elsevier.

Sorrell, J. M. (2009). Ethics: The Value of Nursing Ethics. What about Nurse Jackie? Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14(3).