Balancing Personal Beliefs and Professional Responsibility in Nursing
When a nurse is asked to assist in a practice that goes against her moral, ethical or religious beliefs she must decide between moral integrity and professional responsibility. Moral integrity means acting in accordance of your morals, conscience and values.
Conscientious
Objection in nursing refers to the nurses right to refuse care during controversial practices, such as; abortion, sterilization, assisted reproduction, doctor assisted suicide, and many other practices. Nurses should be allowed to refuse work based on conscientious objection. Allowing conscientious objection promotes health and total wellbeing of healthcare providers through moral integrity, leading to better patient care and outcomes. Conscientious objection helps promote tolerance and cultural diversity within the healthcare setting by allowing for moral expression.
As well as exercises the right of citizens in many westernized countries (such as; Canadian and the United States) to refuse practice based on conscience. If conscientious objection was not permitted in health care settings, it would compromise what many organizations define as “health and wellbeing”. As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), health is a “state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity"(WHO, 2016). Without a nurse’s ability to refuse a practice they deem unethical or goes against his/her ethics, morals, and beliefs; the moral integrity of that nurse could be seriously damaged. “Moral integrity signals the ability for a person to function in a state of moral unity between personal and professional values and responsibilities” (Christina lamb, 2016). Loss of moral integrity could have long-lasting effects on one’s health, including; fatigue, emotional exhaustion and burnouts (Vickie D. Lachman, 2014). Nurses may also risk losing self-respect due to intense feelings of regret, guilt and shame.
Nurses also have the right, like any employee, to refuse work to avoid harm to themselves. An example being; a nurse refusing to assist in providing abortions because of recent attacks targeting abortion providers. Becoming a nurse should not mean putting practice above personal safety. If nurses and other health care professionals are unable to refuse work based on what they believe is right and wrong, it will result in health care providers who do not act according to their conscience, leading to many negative health side effects. In many westernized countries such as; Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, the countries political governments incorporate rights to one’s own conscience. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) states: Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
- freedom of conscience and religion;
- freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
- freedom of peaceful assembly; and
- freedom of association.
This means that all nurses practicing under Canadian regulations have a right as a Canadian citizen to refuse work based on conscious objection. A valid conscientious objection would be doing so on the grounds of what you believe is right and wrong. Although a nurse has a right to refuse a practice based on conscientious objection; it is not a right to discrimination and therefore objection mustn’t originate from racism, sexism and prejudice. This being said, many regulating professional health care bodies offer guidelines on how and when Conscientious objections can be made.
As society becomes more accepting of race, gender, culture, and religion, the importance of respect for all cultures and religious backgrounds is now more vital than ever. Each culture and religion hold their own unique set of morals, beliefs and ethics. If conscientious objections were not allowed, individuals who live in accordance of cultural, ethnic and religious traditions may be discouraged from entering the profession of nursing. Promoting cultural diversity within the nursing profession allows nurses to better understand our diverse society as well as gain new perspectives on similarities and differences with regards to ethnicity, race and culture (Joshua Hordern, 2016). It is important that we look at others beliefs and morals as a personal strength and understand the reasoning behind it, rather than looking at it as an interruption to health care delivery. Beyond moral integrity, values and beliefs are a sense of pride for many and being told they must break their moral code could result in a loss of pride. Allowing Conscientious objection also allows for people who highly value moral integrity, to enter the health care profession.
In saying this I do believe it is important to inform employers as soon as possible of any interfering religious morals or values. Each and every human has their own moral and ethical guidelines, this is why there is no code of ethics and morals outlining controversial procedures in healthcare. All nurses should have the right to conscientiously object to assist in practices or interventions which violate his/her own moral values. Loss of moral integrity could be to blame for many health consequences, including; fatigue, emotional exhaustion and burnouts. Nurses in most westernized countries, including Canada, have the right to conscience as it is included within their respected political governance. Finally, being inclusive to every ethic, religious and cultural group is a large part of the profession of nursing. If we did not allow nurses to object to certain controversial practices, it would push away anyone with deep moral principles away from health care. Eventually ending up with nurses who do not practice according to what they believe is right and wrong.
