Tips for upholding nursing ethics in everyday conversations

According to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, the quality of a nurse’s conversations with his/her patient can potentially affect their satisfaction, how public information is received and understood,  and how reimbursements are made from Medicare and Medicaid.

In this article, the authors of Ethics and Issues in Contemporary Nursing offer their tips into upholding nursing ethics in conversations:

1. Don’t say anything that doesn’t need to be said.

2. Don’t talk about patients where you can be overheard.

3. Don’t talk about what you don’t know.

4. Don’t (necessarily) give the patient all the information all the time.

5. Do treat everyone with respect and dignity.

6. Do contradict the physician to benefit the patient.

7. Do give patients information to help them make the best decisions.

8. Do have conversations about ethics.

For a more in-depth explanation of these tips, click here.