DIVINE SCHOOL OF NURSING

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Title:

Name: WORD
Hippocratic Oath in comparison/contrast to Nursing Code of Ethics

Rebanal, Ericka Mae R. Level: 2 Date: September 20, 2020

Nursing, as a profession, has established standards of behaviors that govern

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practice. These standards are called code of ethics. These codes serve as guidelines to
assist nurses when conflict or disagreement arises about correct practice or behavior.
The Hippocratic Oath’s core ethic is the physician’s pledge to do what he or she
thinks will benefit the patient. This is repeated twice in the oath, once in regards to the
patient’s diet, and the other in reference to house visits. This is also observed in the
nurse’s code, as nurses primarily believe in the worth and dignity of each human being,

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and recognizes a responsibility to preserve all health at any cost. However, they slightly
deviate in the point where nowadays, the client is given the moral right to determine what
will be done with his/her person. Therefor, whilst in the Hippocratic Oath pledges the
physician to do anything in their power to preserve the patient’s life, the nurse’s oath
provides a leeway for the patient to exercise their autonomy.
With regards to the Hippocratic Oath, it is the physician’s decision that should be

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followed no matter what, which is often than most, based on the physician’s own
acquired knowledge throughout their life, but in the nurse’s oath, they require a deeper
understanding of the patient themselves – ranging from their culture, to the society they
live in, their psychological and spiritual inclinations, and down to the ecological aspect of
their illness, everything is given focus and keenly observed.
Another slight difference between the two is in consideration of how one can keep

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to themselves anything they hear within or even outside the treatment. In Hippocratic
Oath, it is up to the physician what they would consider as “what they heard”, while in
the nurse’s oath, EVERY DETAIL acquired in the process of providing nursing care is
put under strict confidence.

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