NCM 119A Nursing Leadership and Management

AY 2022-2023

CHAPTER XIII

Core Values of a Professional Nurse

1. Fidelity
 Faithfulness, especially to one’s patients and also to one’s role as a nurse.
 Loyalty to agreements and promises.
 It means that nurses must be faithful to the promises they made as professionals to provide
competent, quality care to their patients. Justice means fairness. When nurses care for a group
of patients, care must be given equitably, fairly and justly to each individual.
 An example of fidelity: A patient request that a nurse not reveal his terminal diagnosis to his
family. The patient explains that his family would probably disregard his wishes and keep him
alive no matter the circumstances. The nurse must recognize the obligation to keep this
information in confidence and still support the patient's family.
2. Honesty
 Truthfulness and sincerity to patient, relevant to the patient.
 Facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as truthfulness
and straightforwardness with the absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc.
3. Integrity
 Wholeness and completeness
 Deals with the patient as a holistic person living by one’s highest values and standards
 Integrity is defined as the quality of being honest, and fair; possessing high moral principles.
 Integrity is shown by the medical assistant checking in with the patient letting them know the
physician is running behind, and assuring the patient the physician will be with them as soon as
possible.
4. Humility
 Recognizing one’s capabilities and limitations
 Being humble
 Comte-Sponville described humility as a humble virtue that comes from knowing the limits of
one's abilities.
 Humility allows nurses the ability to continue to learn from staff, colleagues, and peers.
5. Respect
 Feeling or showing deferential regard for and esteem to one’s patient
 Paying attention to the patient
 Treating others with dignity
 It is a concept used to connote dignity, reverence, and regard. To demonstrate respect implies
actions of doing what is good.
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AY 2022-2023

 Example: Addressing the patient by his or her preferred name. Explaining the purpose of their
visit. Ensuring the patient understands how to contact a nurse and navigate the hospital.
6. Compassion
 Loving, kindness, feeling for those who suffer
 A self-sacrifice, voluntarily giving for the benefit of another with no hope of reward in return
 Understanding and caring when someone is troubled
 The sensitivity shown in order to understand another person's suffering, combined with a
willingness to help and to promote the wellbeing of that person, in order to find a solution to
their situation.” Compassion is an indispensable part of nursing and patient care.
 For many nurses, this is one of the key components to providing quality care.
 Example: Nurses can show compassion in a variety of ways, like listening to patients' concerns,
quickly addressing those concerns and speaking kindly as you administer treatments and ask
questions.
 Example: Simply providing genuine care to our patient.
7. Prudence
 Concerned with the right directions of human actions
 Most important of all virtues; cautiousness; carefulness
 A nurse that uses good judgment in providing nursing care according to accepted standards and
that another nurse with similar education and experience in similar circumstances would
provide. Identify, describe or clarify the activity, intervention or role under consideration.
8. Courage
 State of quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear or vicissitudes with self-
possession and confidence
 Seven core attributes of moral courage were identified: true presence, moral integrity,
responsibility, honesty, advocacy, commitment and perseverance, and personal risk.
Antecedents were ethical sensitivity, conscience, and experience.
 Examples of moral courage in the workplace include telling a supervisor about how your co-
workers frequently doctor their timesheets, disclosing illegal accounting practices to an
external auditor or releasing incriminating confidential documents to the media.
9. Patience
 Being able to bear and endure the burden attached to one’s duties and responsibilities
 In life and healthcare, patience allows the time necessary to reach an optimal solution to a
problem. It allows one to “stand back” and assess a situation. It allows one to try various
solutions. It allows one to feel some sense of security while one waits for the final outcome.
 Example: It allows professionals to stay calm even under pressure. Nurses are trained to avoid
confrontation even when dealing with irate patients or colleagues.
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AY 2022-2023

10. Gratefulness
 Appreciating the little things that happens and that one has.
11. Generosity
 Sharing what one has without expecting something in return
 Example: nursing someone who is dying may sometimes mean simply being present and
offering companionship, while accepting the inevitability of the patient's death.
12. Patient Advocate
 Keeping the patient’s best interest as the priority
 In the nursing profession, advocacy means preserving human dignity, promoting patient
equality, and providing freedom from suffering. It's also about ensuring that patients have the
right to make decisions about their own health.
 Patient advocacy examples · Ensuring safety · Listening to concerns · Educating
patients · Protecting patient rights · Checking for errors.
13. Competent
 Possessing the scientific, interpersonal and technical skills
 Ability to understand people and situations
 Ability to apply knowledge (assessment)
 Ability to understand needs
 Ability to build interpersonal relationships (communication)
14. Accountable
 Responsible of own actions
 Acknowledging nursing actions and learning from mistakes, which is especially important for
your growth in the nursing profession because each action you take affects patients.
 According to the code of ethics of the American Nurses Association (ANA), “Accountability
means to be answerable to oneself and others for one’s own actions.” Accountability in nursing
requires nurses to follow an ethical conduct code based in the “principles of fidelity and respect
for the dignity, worth, and self-determination of patients.”
15. Responsible
 Must do the work and obligations entrusted to you
 Refers to the ethical and moral obligations permeating the nursing profession. These standards
relate to patient care, collaboration with other medical professionals, integrity, morals and the
responsibility to effectuate social change.
16. Role model
 Being a good example to others
 Example of role model: doing, not just saying, the right things. A role model is a person looked
to by others as an example to be imitated. They possess qualities that we would like to have,
and we try to emulate them.
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AY 2022-2023

17. Conscientious
 Follows what is right
 Carefully consider all the facts before making decisions.
 Implies a desire to do a task well, and to take obligations to others seriously.
18. Human dignity
 One of the most important values of nursing is to respect the dignity of their patients. This
means treating patients with kindness and thoughtfulness as the nurse provides care, and
remembering to consider their emotions about the situation as he/she talks with them, care for
them and educate them about their health.
 Valuing human dignity also means acknowledging the rights of each patient to choose
healthcare services and maintain privacy, which are two other important nursing values.
19. Integrity
 In nursing, integrity is vital to connecting with patients and providing ethical, quality care.
 Integrity refers to making honest, moral decisions. Nurses should practice integrity in their
workplace to meet their health facilities standards for care and aid the recovery of their
patients. Patients may have more confidence in nurses who perform their duties with integrity,
which makes patients more comfortable and willing to receive necessary treatment for their
illnesses or injuries.
20. Altruism
 Altruism for nurses means being considerate of the well-being of your patients and colleagues.
 One can show this nursing value by advocating for fair treatment of ones patient, encouraging
fellow nurses to take breaks while he/she steps in and answering questions from patients'
families as best as they can. An important part of altruism is to not expect something in return
for the care, which means providing care outside of nurse’s typical duties or without need for
acknowledgement.
21. Social justice
 The value of social justice means understanding and upholding moral and legal healthcare
standards for every patient. This involves distributing all services and treatments equally
amongst patients who need them.
 A nurse may practice social justice by actively listening to the needs of individual patients and
providing them with treatments and accommodations necessary for their recovery. This way,
they feel more comfortable and trust in the team's abilities.
22. Diversity
 Valuing diversity helps nurses stay open-minded and treat patients regardless of their identity
or ideals. When one values diversity, he/she can ensure the treatment of a patient meets moral
NCM 119A Nursing Leadership and Management
AY 2022-2023

and ethical standards, makes the patient comfortable and helps them recover from their
condition.
 Diversity in the nursing community may also refer to a healthcare facility's commitment to
hiring employees with various backgrounds and identities and treating them all with respect.
23. Ingenuity
 While one typically follows directions and rules as a nurse, ingenuity is a value that encourages
critical thinking and helping create treatments and strategies that help patients. As a field of
science, healthcare is always changing, and the nurses who work directly with patients often
have a deep understanding which aspects of healthcare can change to provide better treatment
options and techniques. To practice ingenuity, it's a good idea to continually study medical
advancements.
24. Trustworthiness
 Establishing trust helps nurses better understand the needs of those in their care and increases
the chances that a patient cooperates with treatments.
 Patients who trust their healthcare providers also have less stress and may recover better from
their illnesses or injuries.
 To show ones trustworthiness, be interested in how your patient's care is affecting them,
answer their questions honestly and tell them important and accurate information as soon as
he/she can.
25. Accountability
 Accountability is another value important in nursing. Being accountable means acknowledging
the actions and learning from mistakes, which is especially important for ones growth in the
nursing profession because each action he/she take affects patients.
 A good goal for nurses is to admit own mistakes to supervisors as soon as you realize them,
which allows him/her to correct them and continue to give the patients the quality care they
deserve.
26. Curiosity
 The nursing community values curiosity because it encourages nurses to keep learning and
improve the skills needed to succeed.
 Personal and professional curiosity can help one determine the nursing goals, how he/she
measures success and what areas of nursing they have a strong interest. In addition, a sense of
curiosity allows one to investigate concerns about treatment and ask questions on the job to
learn more about the roles of other colleagues.
27. Autonomy
 Medical autonomy refers to a patient's right to accept or refuse healthcare services like
treatments and procedures.
NCM 119A Nursing Leadership and Management
AY 2022-2023

 This is an ethical nursing value that aims to respect and not influence a patient's healthcare
choices, which may make patients feel more at ease and encourage them to seek other
healthcare services when they need them. One may show respect to autonomy by educating
patients on their options without bias and supporting their decisions.
28. Precision
 Precision is an important value for nurses because precise, accurate care best fulfills the needs
of patients and creates a safe environment for medical procedures and recovery.
 As a nurse, try to strive for precision in all aspects of your role, including understanding a
specific patient's treatment plan, providing families and patients with accurate information and
sanitizing all rooms and instruments to avoid germs and bacteria. This can help maintain the
standards of the facility and improve the health of the patients.
29. Empathy
 Another nursing value is empathy, which helps nurses see a situation from their patient's
perspective.
 This allows the nurse to understand more deeply how a patient might feel and what they might
need from their medical team, and this can help him/her administer successful treatment plans.
 The nurse can use empathy to address a patient's concerns from their point of view, which is
helpful when educating them about suggested procedures and understanding how to put them
at ease.
30. Professionalism
 For nurses, professionalism is the standard by which they measure their performance and
reputation. The specific aspects of the nurse’s performance and reputation may include his/her
ability to care for patients successfully, the attitude toward colleagues and patients and the
ability to work as a team with other nurses and doctors.
 Maintaining a standard of professionalism ensures that one understands the importance of
his/her job and strive to perform those duties well.
31. Loyalty
 A nurse may value loyalty to their job and their patients. This may mean he/she dedicates
himself/herself to finishing a patient's treatment, performing all the duties of his/her job as
best as he/she can and continuing to learn about relevant medical advancements.
 One can also show the value loyalty by advocating for patients who need one’s help and trying
to resolve every one of their concerns.
32. Excellence
 The nursing community highly values a commitment to providing excellent service.
 As a nurse, he/she may strive to improve his/her knowledge so he/she can provide the patients
with excellent quality support during their time in the facility.
NCM 119A Nursing Leadership and Management
AY 2022-2023

 Other ways to make excellence a goal are to get involved in creating patient care plans, ask
colleagues questions when one don't understand something and prepare for many situations
through continued coursework, practice and studying.

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