Self-care as an ethical obligation for nurses

Abstract

As members of the largest and most trusted healthcare profession, nurses are role models and critical partners in the ongoing quest for the health of their patients. Findings from the American Nurses Association Health Risk Appraisal suggested that nurses give the best patient care when they are operating at the peak of their own wellness. They also revealed that 68% of the surveyed nurses place their patients’ health, safety, and wellness before their own. Globally, several nursing codes of ethics include the requirement of self-care. Often, these codes embed the responsibility to protect and promote one’s own health within the clearly described obligation to provide safe patient care. The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses is unique in that it states explicitly that nurses must adopt self-care as a duty to self in addition to their duty to provide care to patients. One of the basic assumptions of Watson’s Philosophy and Science of Caring is that caring science is the essence of nursing and the foundational disciplinary core of the profession. Watson’s theory of human caring provides support for the engagement in self-care. Two important value assumptions of Watson’s Caritas are that “we have to learn how to offer caring, love, forgiveness, compassion, and mercy to ourselves before we can offer authentic caring and love to others” and we also must “treat ourselves with loving-kindness and equanimity, gentleness, and dignity before we can accept, respect, and care for others within a professional caring-healing model.” Embedded within several caritas processes is an outline for a holistic approach to caring for self and others that can guide nurses to improve their mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

Factors Related to Implementation of Nursing Care Ethical Principles in Indonesia

“…Furthermore, moral considerations and delivery of compassionate care to patients, are the reasons that motivate, and encourage sick people, to engage them in activities relating to caring behaviour. 24 , 25 Ethical behaviour is conducted by nurses, when they possess knowledge about humans, aspects of growth and development, a response to a changing environment, limitations, strengths, and human needs. Nurses that know much about human feelings, observe clients as humanistic beings, that should be treated according to their rights.…”

Mindful Self-Care Practice of Nurses in Acute Care: A Multisite Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Self-care has been considered an ethical and moral responsibility of nurses because while preserving their own health, nurses are morally obliged to provide safe patient care. Failure to care for themselves affects nurses’ general well-being, thereby preventing them from fulfilling their obligation to care for their patients (Fowler, 2018; Linton & Koonmen, 2020).…”

A qualitative examination of graduating nurses’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic

“…Neglecting one’s own needs may contribute to declines in mental and physical health only worsening the stress on new nurses. 38 Even during pandemics, self-care is and should remain a priority.…”