VIRTUES HABITS OF A HEALTH CARE PROVIDER
the welfare of those committed to my care.
COMPASSION FIDELITY RESPECT
HONEST INTEGRITY
VIRTUES
Y means honor
PRUDENCE
COURAGE
HUMILITY
VIRTUES
The faculty of the human person to choose what is
good against what is deemed to be bad or evil
FIDELITY
Derived from the Latin word fidelitas which means
faithfulness
Faithfulness to one’s obligations, duties and
responsibilities
Purtillo (2005) lists five expectations associated
with what patients might reasonably expect in
terms of fidelity in the health care context:
1. That you treat them with basic respect.
2. That you, the caregiver or other health care
professional, are competent and capable of
performing the duties required of your professional
role.
3. That you adhere to a professional code of ethics.
4. That you follow the policies and procedures of
your organization and applicable laws.
5. That you will honor agreements made with the
patient.
THE NIGHTINGALE’S PLEDGE
I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the
presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity
and to practice my profession faithfully. I will
abstain from whatever is deleterious and
mischievous, and will not take or knowingly
administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my
power to maintain and elevate the standard of
my profession, and will hold in confidence all
personal matters committed to my keeping and
all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the
practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to
aid the physician, in his work, and devote myself to
HONESTY
• Derived from the Latin word honestus which
• A nurse is supposed to be sincere, truthful,
straightforward, decent, comely (pleasing
appearance), tidy, open, upright, virtuous,
trustworthy, fair, honorable, creditable, and
of good moral character
• A nurse should not cheat or steal anything
from his/her patient
INTEGRITY
• Comes from the Latin word enteros which
means whole
• Makes a human person complete
• A nurse practices integrity when he/she does
his/her duties and obligations according to
the beliefs, principles, and values he/she
claims to embrace
• Free from hypocrisy.
HUMILITY
• Humility does not mean that one has to think
less of himself/herself; rather, it invites one
to think of himself/herself less.
• A nurse ceases to think of his/her own needs
as he/she transcends his/her attention to the
needs of the patients
RESPECT
• An act through which one takes notice of
others
• Regard other with special attention, esteem,
and care, or to consider other worthy of
esteem and honor
• Patients are also bound to respect nurses
• Acknowledge the feelings, beliefs, convictions,
status, and condition of the patient
COMPASSION
A feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for
someone struck by misfortune, accompanied
by a desire to alleviate the suffering
• Nurses should be sensitive to their patients
PRUDENCE
 • An exercise of good judgment, common sense,
and caution in the conduct of practical
matters
• The overarching virtue that ties together
discretion, foresight, forethought, and
circumspection
• Being careful to avoid embarrassing and
distressing situations
COURAGE
• The quality of mind or spirit that enables a
person to face difficulty, danger, and pain
without fear
• Nurses are expected to be bold in undertaking
a very sensitive job
• Allows the nurse to face the challenges and
dangers of the healthcare profession:
⎯ NURSES TAKING CARE OF COVID-19
PATIENTS
⎯ TAKING CARE OF A DYING PERSON
⎯ -ASSISTING DURING CODE BLUE
VICES
• Derived from the Latin word vitium which
means failing or defect
• The product of a repeated sinful act
• Immoral, depraved, or degrading act to all the
members in a given society
• Defect, infirmity, fault, iniquity, offence,
wickedness or corruption
FRAUD
• False representation of fact
• Deliberate deceit; trickery; an intentional
perversion of truth for the purpose of
inducing another in reliance upon it to part
with some valuable thing belonging to him, or
surrender a legal right.
• tampering patient’s medical record or
willfully changes data in the patient’s record
• Signing in a medication sheet even if the
medication was not given
• Not returning patients medication prior to
discharge
• Using another’s account in accessing patient’s
record
PRIDE
• A feeling of gratification arising from
association with something good or laudable
• A high or inordinate opinion of one’s own
dignity, importance, merit, or superiority;
conceit; arrogance
• Egoism or vanity and often apply to offensive
characteristics
A nurse supervisor reprimanding the staff nurse in
front of the other staff nurses and doctors in the
station
A staff nurse shouting at her patient because the
patient couldn’t understand her instruction
• Comes from the Latin word avaritia which
means avarice or covetousness
• Excessive desire for wealth or possessions
Example:
Nurse stealing patient’s medication for personal use
HABITS
TYPES:
Entitative Habit
• habits of being; connatural qualities
• those that arise out of the nature and
structure of ourselves, that are necessary
parts or propensities arising from our
constitution
• habits of being; connatural qualities
(GOOD HABITS) includes:
- HEALTH
- STRENGTH
- BEAUTY
Operative Habit
• habits of acting; tendencies we have
developed in ourselves from repeated acts
• those that can be acquired or relinquished
• It can be a good or bad habit
Operative habits such as science or humaneness are
good because they orient the intellect and will
respectively toward activities that are desirable;
error and selfishness on the other hand are bad
dispositions because they organize mind and will
toward actions that are negative and undesirable.