Under-fire nurses get code of conduct

Published on Saturday 5 April 2008 19:47

NURSES have hit back against criticism of their profession with a new code of conduct for staff, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

Nurses will be given a pocket-sized manual detailing standards of conduct, performance and ethics.

Patients and relatives will also have access to new code of conduct cards in GPs' surgeries and hospitals so that they can ensure nurses are acting appropriately.

The guide will be launched tomorrow by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which deals with complaints against health professionals. It comes in the wake of a series of criticisms of nurses' behaviour and lack of skills which the NMC is keen to tackle.

In recent weeks nurses were branded "grubby, drunken and promiscuous" by a Tory peer and criticised by patients' groups about their lack of basic skills.

The four key principles of nurses' conduct on the cards are that nurses should make the care of patients their first concern, to work with others to promote health and wellbeing, to provide a high standard of care and to be open, honest and act with integrity and uphold the reputation of their profession.

The code of conduct also requires nurses to maintain professional boundaries and keep their skills up to date.

NMC president Nancy Kirkland said she wanted patients to know what to expect from nurses, and added:

"The code will help the public understand that nursing has changed. We are providing the public, patients and relatives with the key principles of the code. This will be an opportunity to see quite clearly what they expect nurses to be delivering and that is a step we have never, ever taken before."

The move comes in the wake of serious criticism of members of the profession. Last month the Conservative peer Lord Mancroft branded nurses "grubby, drunken and promiscuous" and "slipshod and lazy" during a Lords debate, after he was admitted to the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

He alleged nurses chatted to each other about their sex lives and alcohol intake in front of patients and had dirty fingernails and hair.

And critics have also warned about nurses losing touch with patients' needs because they are under so much pressure during shifts.

Earlier this year Michael Summers, of the Patients' Association south of the border, said many nurses "lack the day-to-day skills they need soon after they qualify".

Last night Margaret Watt, chairwoman of the Scotland Patients' Association, welcomed the move and said: "This will help a great deal to mend the relationship between patients and nurses. Patients would welcome it. I just hope that the nurses will study it and know it well."