Professional Adjustment in Nursing be used as mere stepping stone to other
Prepared by: occupations.
CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL D. PARRILLA, RN, MAN
Lifted from
Professional Nursing in the Philippines
10th Edition
by
Lydia M. Venzon, RN, MAN, FPCHA
Ronald M. Venzon, RN, MAN
Nursing as a Profession
Profession – an occupation or calling requiring
advanced training and experienced in some specific or
specialized body of knowledge which provides service
to society in that special field.
Criteria of a Profession (William Shepard)
1. A profession must satisfy an indispensable
social need and must be based upon well
established and socially accepted scientific
principles.
2. It must demand adequate pre-professional and
cultural training.
3. It must demand the possession of a body of
specialized and systematized training.
4. It must give evidence of needed skills which the
public does not possess; that is, skills which are
partly inherent and partly acquired.
5. It must have developed a scientific technique
which is the result of tested experience.
6. It must require the exercise of discretion and
judgment as to time and manner of the
performance of duty. This is in contrast to the
kind of work which is subject to
standardization in terms of unit performance or
time element.
7. It must have a group of consciousness designed
to extend scientific knowledge in technical
language.
8. It must have sufficient self-impelling power to
retain its members throughout life. It must not
9. It must recognize its obligations to society by
insisting that its members live up to an
established code of ethics.
Professional Nurse – a person who has completed
a basic nursing education program and is licensed
in his/her country or state to practice professional
nursing.
Meaning of Professional Nursing
The Philippine Nursing Act of 1991 (RA 7164)
has been repealed by the Philippine Nursing Act of
2002 (RA 9173).
(Refer to the attached Photocopy).
Moral and Spiritual Responsibilities of Nurses
Nurses, whatever their religion, must be God-
loving and God-fearing. They must realize that the
nursing profession is a commitment both to God
and people. They should emphasize the
importance of providing spiritual care as a vital
aspect of nursing care. They must uphold the
sanctity of human life.
Moral Principles
1. The Golden Rule – “Do unto others what you
would like others do unto you.:
2. The Two-fold Effect – When an situation or
action has both good and bad effects, the bases
of his/her action may be:
a. That the action must be morally good;
b. That the good effect must be willed and
the bad effect merely allowed;
c. That the good effect must not come from
an evil action but from the initial action
itself directly; and
d. That the good effect must be greater
than the bad effect.
3. The Principle of Totality – The who is greater
than any of its parts.
4. Epikia – exception to the general rule.
5. One who acts through an agent is himself
responsible.
6. No one is obliged to betray himself/herself.
7. The end does not justify the means.
8. Defects of nature may be corrected.
9. If one is willing to cooperate in the act, no
injustice I done to him/her.
10. A little more or less does not change the
substance of an act.
11. The greatest good for the greatest number.
12. No one is held to the impossible
13. The morality of cooperation
14. Principle relation to the origin and destruction
of life.
Spiritual Commitment of a Nurse (Refer to the
attached paper)
The Good Samaritan Law
Nurses and Suffering
Life in God’s Service
The Code of Ethics for Filipino Nurses
Code of Good Governance – promulgated by the
PRC on July 23, 2003 states that the hallmark of al
professionals is their willingness to accept a set of
professional and ethical principles which they will
follow in the conduct of their daily lives.
General Principles of the Code of Good
Governance
1. Service to others
2. Integrity and Objectivity
3. Professional Incompetence
4. Solidarity and Teamwork
5. Social and Civic Responsibility
6. Global Competitiveness
7. Equality of All Professions
Legal Aspects and the Nurse
RA 9173 – Philippine Nursing Act of 2002
As Nurses begin their professional obligations, their
legal responsibilities begin as well.
Responsibility and Accountability for the Practice of
Professional Nursing
When nurses undertake to practice their
profession, they are held responsible and accountable
for the quality of performance of their duties. Nurses
employed in an agency, institution, or hospital are
directly responsible to their immediate supervisors.
Private duty nurses, being independent practitioners,
are held to a standard of conduct that is expected of
reasonably prudent nurses. The standard is a clearly
defined, legal expectation to which nurses are held
accountable.
Professional Negligence
Negligence – refers to the commission or omission of
an act, pursuant to a duty, that a reasonably prudent
person I the same or similar circumstance would or
would not do, and acting or the non-acting of which is
the proximate cause of injury to another person or his
property.
Elements of Professional Negligence
1. Existence of a duty on the part of the person
charged to use due care under circumstance
2. Failure to meet the standard of due care
3. The foreseeability of harm resulting from
failure meet the standard, and
4. The fact that the breach of this standard
resulted in an injury to the plaintiff.
Specific Examples of Negligence
1. Failure to report observations to attending
physicians.
2. Failure to exercise the degree of diligence which
the circumstances of the particular case
demands.
3. Mistaken identity
 4. Wrong medicine, wrong concentration, wrong
route, wrong dose, etc. (Golden Rs of
Medication Administration)
5. Defects in the equipment such as stretchers and
wheelchairs may lead to falls thus injuring the
patients.
6. Errors due to family assistance.
7. Administration of medicine without a doctor’s
prescription.
The Doctrine of Res Ipsa Loquitur
Three conditions are required to establish a
defendant’s negligence without proving specific
conduct.
1. That the injury was of such nature that it would
not normally occur unless there was a negligent
act on the part of someone;
2. That the injury was caused by an agency within
control of the defendant; and
3. That the plaintiff himself did not engage in any
manner that would tend to bring about the
injury.
Malpractice
- implies the idea of improper or unskillful care
of a patient by a nurse.
- denotes stepping beyond one’s authority with
serious consequences.
- Negligence or carelessness of a professional
personnel
- Refers to a negligent act committed in the
course of professional performance
Doctrine of Force Majeure
Force Majeure – irresistible force, one that is
unforeseen or inevitable.
Doctrine of Respondeat Superior – let the master
answer for the acts of the subordinate.
 The liability is expanded to include the master
as well as the employee and not a shift of
liability from the subordinate to the master.
Incompetence – the lack of ability, legal qualifications
or fitness to discharge the required duty.
Liability of Nurses for the Work of
o Nursing Aides
o Nursing Student
Legal Defense in Negligence
 The most common defense in a negligent action
is when nurses know and attain that standard
of care in giving service and that they have
documented the care they give in a concise and
accurate manner.
 Patient’s careless conduct injures himself, the
patient cannot bring suit against the nurse
 Assumption of risk
 Nurses therefore shall exercise their sound
judgment and utilize standards of care in order
to prevent lawsuits or harm to themselves.
Consent – free and rational act the presupposes
knowledge of the thing to which consent is being given
by a person who is legally capable to give consent.
Nature of consent
Informed consent – established principle of law that
every human being of adult years and sound mind has
the right to determine what shall be done with his own
body.
 Essential Elements
o The diagnosis and explanation of the
condition
o A fair explanation of the procedures to
be done and used and the consequences
o A description of alternative treatments
or procedures
o A description of the benefits to be
expected
o Material rights if any
o Prognosis if the recommended care,
procedure is refused.
Proof of Consent – written consent should be signed
Who must consent
Consent of Minors
Consent of Mentally Ill
Emergency Situation
Refusal to consent
Consent for Sterilization
TORTS – legal wrong committed against a person or
property of independent of a contract which renders
the person who commits it liable for damages in a civil
action. The person who has been wronged seeks
compensation for the injury or wrong he has suffered
from the wrong doer
1. Assault and Battery
2. False Imprisonment or Illegal Detention
3. Invasion of Right to Privacy and Breach of
Confidentiality
4. Defamation – Slander and Liber

CRIMES, MISDEMEANOR, and FELONIES

Crime – defined as an act committed or omitted in

violation of the law.
Two elements
1. Criminal Acts
2. Evil/Criminal Intent
Conspiracy to a Crime