The importance of ethical codes in nursing care

Introduction: The ethics of the nursing profession is formulated by the International Code of Ethics for Nurses, which is valid for all nurses around the world. The importance of this code is indisputable, especially in situations that require ethical conduct. However, as the current health care system evolves, so must the content of these codes. The stimuli for these updates can be provided by the nurses in practice. Objective: The aim is to point out the importance and use of codes of ethics in contemporary nursing in various countries and the need to innovate the code of ethics in the Czech environment. Methods: A literary search for keywords according to PICO was performed using Boolean operators. Professional resources were searched in scientific electronic databases (EBSCO, PubMed, ProQuest, WOS). Results: A total of 252 sources were searched. 153 sources that met the required criteria were subsequently subjected to critical analysis. Of this number, 10 studies were used for the final analysis, which focused on the views of nurses on codes of ethics and ethical conflicts in the practice of nurses. Conclusions: The studies examined show that nurses are aware of the importance of the code of ethics. However, whilst most nurses are generally aware of the code, many do not know the exact content and how it should help them in practice. During the provision of nursing care, nurses encounter many ethical dilemmas, especially in the area of differences in some values. Some studies have found that nurses sometimes perceive that patients' rights are higher priority than their own rights. It is therefore important that codes of ethics do not forget to promote the rights of nurses themselves.