The Code of Ethics for Nurses
Before discussing some of the provisions for the codes of ethics for nurses, it is prudent to first understand the meaning of the term ethics. According to British Medical Association (2012), the term ethics is defined as the study of philosophical ideas that guide the ideals of what is wrong or right behavior. In most of the professional practices like nursing, a code of ethics gives proper guidelines to enable them offer a safe and compassionate care. I personally think that if nurses are committed to a code of ethics, this would guarantee the members of the public that the nurses are indeed adhering to the professional practice standards. For instance, the American Nurses Association came up with its projects in the year 1995. In the year 2001, the American Nurses Association delegates were able to vote so as to accept the nine major provisions of the revised code of ethics for nurses. I must admit that out of these nine provisions of code of ethics for nurses is the second one in that list. This is not to say that the rest are meaningless.
The reason as to why I found this provision to be very impressive is due to the fact that asserts the primary role of a nurse. The second provision states that the primary commitment of a nurse is to the patient, whether individual, family, group or the community at large. According to Zahedi et al (2013), if nurses adhere to this provision strictly, they will be able to offer the right caring services to the patients under their care. The second provision has re-asserted this fact by indicating that the primary commitment of any nurse is to the patient. This means that the nurse should do anything that is medically correct to ensure that the patient is provided with the proper healthcare.
Tuskegee Experiment
On July 25, 1972, the world’s attention was brought on the heinous act that was meted on the African Americans by the medical practitioners in the United States in the previous 40 years. In 1932, the United States Public Health Service working alongside the Tuskegee Institute, conducted the famous study of untreated syphilis on the male African Americans. The purpose of the study was to observe how the untreated syphilis will naturally progress on the African-American men living in the rural area of Alabama. The study was conducted under the disguise of receiving the free health care from the government of the United States (Harter, Stephens & Japp, 2000). Personally was the most professional unethical conduct in history of the United States. The study was conducted on 600 black men and out of which, 399 had syphilis, and the other 201were not having syphilis. It is important to remember that the study was conducted without the consent of the patients. The researchers cheated these men that they were only being treated for what was famously being described as being the bad blood. The term blood was used to describe local ailments like syphilis, anemia, and even fatigue during those days. In exchange, the men received free meals, medical exams, and burial insurance. Despite the fact that the study was set to last for 6 months, but it lasted for 40 years. This was the most inhumane treatment for the African Americans during these periods. This was probably the most unethical act by the medical practitioners. The African American was allowed to suffer syphilis without treatment even after Penicillin for treating the disease had been discovered. Personally, I find this kind of treatment as being very cruel and heinous act of the highest order. Additionally, by the time this cruel conduct was reported by the Associated Press, 7 men had already died out of syphilis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.,2015).
The Nuremberg Code
The issue of Nuremberg Code started before the Second World War German politics, mostly between the years 1930s and 1940s. According to Annas & Grodin (2008), the Nuremberg Code is the most important document that has ever been reported in the history as far as the ethics of medical research is concerned. The idea of Nuremberg Code was conceived several years ago, and to be precise in August 1947. The code was formulated in Nuremberg, Germany, by the American judges that presided over Nazi doctors who were accused of carrying out what could be described as being torturous and murderous human experiments in some of the concentration camps. The research that was conducted during those days was seen to be one of the most unethical conducts in the medical health. Most of the medical experts and researchers have however used some of the information that were contained in the codes have been used by the researchers currently. The code has served as a blue print for the current principles that guarantees the rights of the people being used for research purposes. For example, the Nuremberg Code has indicated that before concerning any research, there should be voluntary consent of the person who is being used as the subject of research. In other words, there should be absolute consent by the subject (Harter, Stephens & Japp, 2000).
References
Annas, G. J., & Grodin, M. A. (2008). The nuremberg code. In The Oxford Textbook of Clinical Research Ethics (pp. 136-140). New York: Oxford University Press.
British Medical Association. (2012). Medical ethics today: the BMA’s handbook of ethics and law. John Wiley & Sons.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention., (2015). The Tuskegee Timeline. Retrieved 18, 2017, from https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm
Greek, R., Pippus, A., & Hansen, L. A. (2012). The Nuremberg Code subverts human health and safety by requiring animal modeling. BMC medical ethics, 13(1), 16.
Harter, L. M., Stephens, R. J., & Japp, P. M. (2000). President Clinton’s apology for the Tuskegee syphilis experiment: A narrative of remembrance, redefinition, and reconciliation. Howard Journal of Communication, 11(1), 19-34.
Zahedi, F., Sanjari, M., Aala, M., Peymani, M., Aramesh, K., Parsapour, A., … & Dastgerdi, M. V. (2013). The code of ethics for nurses. Iranian journal of public health, 42(Supple1), 1.