Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurses: Interpretation and Application

A code of ethics stands as a central and necessary mark of a profession. It functions as a general guide for the profession’s members and as a social contract with the public that it serves. The group that would eventually become the American Nurses Association first discussed a code of ethics in 1896. When the ANA code of ethics was first developed, it was used as a model by nursing organizations elsewhere in the world, so it had considerable influence both in this country and internationally. But The ANA’s “Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements” was never intended to be carved in stone for all eternity. Rather, it was meant to be a document that has naturally evolved and developed in accord with the changing social context of nursing, and with the progress and aspirations of the profession. However, despite the changes over time in the Code’s expression, interpretation, and application, the central ethical values, duties and commitments of nursing have remained stable.