The Ethical Nurse by Mary Ann Siciliano McLaughlin Ed.D., RN

Copyrighted by Mary Ann Siciliano McLaughlin Ed.D., RN, 2017 PILLAR I: ALTRUISM 1. Altruism is "a concern for the welfare and well-being of others."  This concern and advocacy includes not only patients, but also other nurses and health care providers (AACN, 2008).   Under altruism, the students need to understand that they need to be concerned with the welfare of others including their patients. I also view altruism, as a concept, where the students really learn to advocate for their patients needs and issues.   I feel this comprises a large part of their duties as a professional nurse.   However, this pillar of altruism also includes concern for the fellow nurses and health care providers working alongside them. The most wonderful part of being a nurse, I feel, is how we get to care holistically for our patients and their families.   Nurses do not just take care of isolated problems for patients.   Rather, nurses look at the entir...

As a faculty member and an ABSN program director, I continue to attempt to develop professionalism in our future nurses.  I always speak to my students about professionalism and accountability.  I tell them that part of professionalism is accountability.  I explain that this accountability is not just accountability to the decisions they make, but also accountability to the outcomes of those decisions as well.  As a future, professional nurse, students need to understand how to be accountable for their choices and actions. While in my doctoral program, I decided to create a model of professionalism.  I called it the Pillars of Professionalism.  I have recently copyrighted this model and am beginning to disseminate my idea as an innovative strategy with which to use with students. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) (Finkelman & Kenner, 2012) report and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials of Baccalaureate Education (2008) ...