Nursing Ethics in Canada

Knowledge of nursing ethics is a requirement for nursing practice in Canada. A registered nurse is required to practice in a safe, competent, and ethical manner.

Ethical guidelines for the nursing profession are contained in the CNA Code of Ethics.

Knowledge about ethics provides members of the nursing profession with guidelines for making nursing practice decisions that seem to have no clearly defined right or wrong answer.

A registered nurse is required to act in the best interests of the client but sometimes the actions needed to fulfill that commitment are not clear.

Consider the findings from this nursing research completed in the United States on an oncology unit in 2000.

Registered nurses reported an average of 32 different types of ethical dilemmas within the past year on a daily basis.
The most frequently cited ethical dilemma was pain management for the oncology patient.
The nurses also struggled morally with decisions that needed to be made in the patient's best interest including issues with cost containment and quality of life.

The study concluded that ethical decision making was a significant source of stress for a registered nurse.

Raines, Marcia. (2000)Ethical Decision Making in Nurses: Relationships Among Moral Reasoning, Coping Style, and Ethics Stress.1(1), 29-45

The Influence of Personal Values on Ethical Decision Making

Decision making about what is right and wrong is based on values. Personal value formation is influenced by family, culture and other experiences in life.

Registered nurses are required to make decisions based on professional nursing values as established in the CNA ethical code

CNA Code of Ethics

The Canadian Nurses Association Code of Ethics contains the nursing ethics guidelines for Canadian nurses.

The Canadian Registered Nurse Exam

Selecting the correct answer on the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam might be a challenge if:

your basic nursing education did not provide a foundation in nursing ethics

you are not familiar with the values of the nursing profession in Canada

you are not familiar with the values of the Canadian society

As a registered nurse in Canada you will be required to act in a safe, competent, and ethical manner.

In the Professional Practice section of the entry level nursing competencies that form the basis for the blueprint for the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam there is a competency statement that references the requriement for nursees to practice according to the nursing code of ethics established for for Canadian nurses.

Additionally there are many other competencies in that category that refer to values of fairness, autonomy, and equity which predominate in the Canadian culture.

More information on Ethics in Nursing

Requirement for Ethics in Nursing Curriculum in Canada

Current Ethical Issues in Nursing in Canada

The Most Commonly Used Ethical Theories in Nursing Practice

Current Ethical Issuesin Nursing Practice

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