The 1st code of ethics for nurses was published in the Official Journal on Sunday, November 27, 2016, according to a press release from the National Council of Nurses.
It will include all the rights and duties of nurses, whatever their methods or places of practice, and will also clarify the links with patients, other members of the profession and other health professionals.
This code of ethics makes it possible to modernize and enrich the rules of ethics which appear since 1993 (and have not changed since) in articles R.4312-1 and following of the public health code. It will apply to 600,000 nurses in the public sector, private hospital, liberal or working in health services at work or in schools, in town or in rural areas.
A legal framework for an evolving profession
The development of this code made it possible to meet 4 main objectives. In a statement, the National Council of the Order of Nurses recalls them.
• In the interest of the patient: establish rules relating to professional secrecy, the freedom to be informed or not about one’s state of health, the refusal or interruption of care, the obligation of transparency on tariffs, the taking into account of the circle family, the duty of information in the event of mistreatment.
• Promotion of the nursing profession: clarification on the role of the nurse, in particular in terms of exchanges with the patient and other health professionals, extended field of competence, autonomy in the application of a medical prescription and the possibility of making his own prescriptions …
• Protection of the interests of the profession: rules relating to confraternity, mutual aid, probity, the prohibition of advertising and any commercial drift damaging the image of the profession …
• The increase in the prerogatives of the National Order of Nurses: details on his disciplinary functions but also those relating to replacement authorizations, secondary offices …
“As a professional body, we need to be recognized and respected. The code of ethics is a powerful unifying element which makes it possible to assert the primacy of the values of our profession over any other requirement, in a context where financial profitability tends to take precedence over the quality of care and patient safety ” , explains Didier Borniche, president of the National Order of Nurses
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