Professional Ethics
Professional Ethics tests the Indian Nursing Council's ethical standards and your reasoning about dilemmas that arise at the bedside.
Core principles
- Autonomy: the informed choice of a competent patient, including the right to refuse.
- Beneficence: act in the patient's best interest. Non-maleficence: above all, do no harm.
- Justice: fair distribution of care and scarce resources.
- Veracity: truthfulness with the patient. Fidelity: keeping promises and maintaining loyalty.
- Confidentiality: exceptions include notifiable diseases, court orders, child abuse reporting and serious risk to others.
- Informed consent must be voluntary, informed and given by a competent person; consent is implied in a life-threatening emergency.
- Advocacy: the nurse speaks for the patient's wishes and dignity, even against institutional pressure.
Worked example
A competent adult with a chronic illness refuses a prescribed injection after full explanation. The correct action is to accept the refusal without force, reassure the patient, record exactly what was said and who was informed, and notify the treating doctor. Reasoning: autonomy outweighs the nurse's wish to help; giving the injection against a competent refusal constitutes battery, while failing to document leaves the nurse legally exposed.
Traps that cost marks
- Disclosing patient details to relatives over the phone without consent.
- Administering covert medication in food, which violates autonomy and consent.
- Signing a consent form on the patient's behalf instead of obtaining a guardian's signature where the patient lacks capacity.