The impact of pediatric critical illness and injury on families : A review of the evidence

This article discusses generalconsiderations on ethical nursing practicerelating to errors in ICUs, according to thebioethical principles of beneficence andnonmaleficence. In the health care context,the need for error analysis under a systemicfocus in a safe non-punitive culture ishighlighted, so that effective preventivemeasures are adopted in such services. It isa mandatory ethical commitment for nursesworking in ICU that they provide care toassign a priority to patient dignity in asystem that ensures more protection andless risks and failures. IntroductionThe ethical implication of errors inintensive care nursing practice requires some consideration of the general ethicalaspects of the profession.The first relates to nurses’ competence whose main basis is “know howto behave”, a mandatory ethical componentin nursing practice, which complementsscientific knowledge. This involves ‘know-how’ skills, including knowing how to interact with each other.The second, according to AnneDavis, refers to the fact that nursing hasnever considered ethics an unimportantissue or a kind of fashion. Nursing historyhas shown a growing literature, as well as anumber of ethical activities in professionalassociations, in codes of ethics and healthcare standards and protocols. According toDavis, “nothing has been irrelevant to thepermanent and intentional commitment with ethics for the nursing profession”.The third aspect concerns thetechnology that has been developed in recent decades. It has brought new andcomplex challenges to the health careprofessional and has become a core focus of ethical discussions.In this sense, in the face of thediagnostic and therapeutic tools available for health care and the appeal for technologicalinnovations for consumers, the problemsthese professionals will face tend to be more and more of an ethical nature thantechnical. Therefore, this reality reinforcesthe great number of ethical problemspresent in the daily life of the nurse,especially in the intensive care area. It is within this perspective that actual andpotential errors take place in ICU practice.Ethical Implications of Errors in ICU Nursing Practice Katia Grillo Padilha, BSN, PhD Faculty member, Department of Medical Surgical Nursing. School of Nursing University of São Paulo, Brazil