Part -1:

Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia

Purpose

The purpose of the Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia is to:

- outline a set of minimum national standards of conduct members of the nursing profession are expected to uphold

- inform the community of the standards of professional conduct it can expect nurses in Australia to uphold, and

- provide consumer, regulatory, employing and professional bodies with a basis for evaluating the professional conduct of nurses.

The Code is not intended to give detailed professional advice on specific issues and areas of practice. In keeping with national competency standards, nurses have a responsibility to ensure their knowledge and understanding of professional conduct issues is up to date. While mandatory language such as ‘must', ‘shall' and ‘will' is not used throughout this Code, it is important for nurses to understand that there is a presumption the conduct discussed is mandatory and therefore not discretionary for nurses practising nursing.

A breach of the Code may constitute either professional misconduct or unprofessional conduct. For the purposes of this Code, professional misconduct refers to ‘the wrong, bad or erroneous conduct of a nurse outside of the domain of his or her practice; conduct unbefitting a nurse' (e.g. sexual assault, theft, or drunk and disorderly conduct in a public place). Unprofessional conduct refers to ‘conduct that is contrary to the accepted and agreed practice standards of the profession' (e.g. breaching the principles of asepsis; violating confidentiality in the relationship between persons receiving care and nurses).

The nursing profession expects nurses will conduct themselves personally and professionally in a way that maintains public trust and confidence in the profession. Nurses have a responsibility to the people to whom they provide care, society and each other to provide safe, quality and competent nursing care.

Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses

1. Nurses practise in a safe and competent manner.

2. Nurses practise in accordance with the standards of the profession and broader health system.

3. Nurses practise and conduct themselves in accordance with laws relevant to the profession and practice of nursing.

4. Nurses respect the dignity, culture, ethnicity, values and beliefs of people receiving care and treatment, and of their colleagues.

5. Nurses treat personal information obtained in a professional capacity as private and confidential.

6. Nurses provide impartial, honest and accurate information in relation to nursing care and health care products.

7. Nurses support the health, wellbeing and informed decision-making of people requiring or receiving care.

8. Nurses promote and preserve the trust and privilege inherent in the relationship between nurses and people receiving care.

9. Nurses maintain and build on the community's trust and confidence in the nursing profession.

10. Nurses practise nursing reflectively and ethically.

Part -2:

SUMMARY

When using social media, health practitioners should remember that the National Law, their National Board's code of ethics and professional conduct (the Code of conduct) and the Guidelines for advertising regulated health services (the Advertising guidelines) apply.

Registered health practitioners should only post information that is not in breach of these obligations by:

- complying with professional obligations

- complying with confidentiality and privacy obligations (such as by not discussing patients or posting pictures of procedures, case studies, patients, or sensitive material which may enable patients to be identified without having obtained consent in appropriate situations), presenting information in an unbiased, evidence-based context, and

- not making unsubstantiated claims.

Additional information may be available from professional bodies and/or employers, which aims to support health practitioners' use of social media. However, the legal, ethical, and professional obligations that registered health practitioners must adhere to are set out in the National Boards' respective Code of conduct and the Advertising guidelines.

Attachment:- Code-of-Professional-Conduct-for-Nurses.rar