Personal ethics comes from inside and are influenced by our everyday life and people around us. The directions we obtain as a child helps to form and begin our awareness of ethics. My upbringing memoirs and experiences instilled a well-built belief in family structure and significance of family in general. I was fortunate to be born and brought up in India in a traditional Roman Catholic family. My father was a doctor and he died of heart attack when I was ten years old. My mother was a registered nurse and I have three older brothers and one younger sister. My mother went to the Middle East to work as a nurse and had to leave us in a boarding school. I missed my mother a lot while I was in the boarding school. That was when I decided what I wanted to do. My only ambition was to become a nurse to be with my mother. I always used to watch my parents caring sick people. My parents constantly reminded me to live in Christian faith. They led us by example all the time, providing precious lessons vital to my development. My parents taught me to treat others as we would want them to treat us. I also learned from my parents that every person is important and we should love and respect them. I strive to live by those set of laws, though it is not always easy. My faith also influences my philosophy. I believe in God and God has a plan and purpose for every one of us. This is the basis of my ethical practices.
Each individual cultivates different cultural, spiritual and personal values from their own life experiences which add to their worldview and philosophy of nursing in their practice. To me ethics is my own personal belief structure. Knowing our own personal values is critical to every person. My moral compass in nursing offers highest priority for the wellbeing of patients. My moral courage helps me to speak up, stand up for my personal belief and moral values and bring about change in my work place. The personal and professional values, my
References: American Nurses Association (2001). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.sfcc.edu/files/SFCC NursingStudentHandbook Purtilo, R., & Doherty, R. (2011). Ethical dimensions in the health professions. (5th ed.). P (5-10) St.Louis, Missouri: Elsevier Saunders. Role of the Registered professional nurse. June 8, 2005. Retrieved on June 6, 2012 from http://www.nysna.org/practice/positions/position6.htm Runzheimer, J., & Larsen, L. (2011). Medical ethics for dummies. (p. 113). NJ: WileyPublishing.