Ethics in independent nurse consulting: strategies for avoiding ethical quicksand

Nurs Ethics. 2010 Nov;17(6):769-76. doi: 10.1177/0969733010379179.

Abstract

Changes in health care have created a variety of new roles and opportunities for nurses in advanced practice. One of these changes is the increasing number of advanced practice nurses carrying out independent consultation. Differences in goals between business and health care may create ethical dilemmas for nurse consultants. The purpose of this article is to describe possible ethical pitfalls that nurse consultants may encounter and strategies to prevent or solve these dilemmas. Three themes related to nursing codes of ethics will be discussed: the duty to uphold human rights, the duty to fulfill commitments, and the duty to practice the profession competently.

MeSH terms

  • Advanced Practice Nursing / ethics*
  • Advanced Practice Nursing / organization & administration
  • Codes of Ethics
  • Confidentiality / ethics
  • Conflict, Psychological
  • Consultants* / psychology
  • Contract Services / ethics
  • Contract Services / organization & administration
  • Decision Making / ethics
  • Humans
  • Interprofessional Relations / ethics
  • Moral Obligations
  • Nurse's Role* / psychology
  • Patient Advocacy / ethics
  • Power, Psychological
  • Practice Guidelines as Topic
  • Practice Patterns, Nurses' / ethics
  • Practice Patterns, Nurses' / organization & administration
  • Principle-Based Ethics
  • Private Practice / ethics
  • Private Practice / organization & administration
  • Professional Competence