Preview

My Moral Compass

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1332 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
My Moral Compass
Running head: NURSING ETHICS

Moral Compass
Andrea Mills
Grand Canyon University
NRS-437V Introduction to the Study of Ethics
September 23, 2012

Moral Compass A moral compass is anything that is used to guide a person’s decisions based on morals or virtues. (Dictionary, 2012) I use my moral compass to guide my nursing to help me make ethical decisions when caring for my patients. My moral compass is the part of me that has values of integrity, responsibility, compassion, purpose, and trust. I have learned these from my parents. I grew up in a large family, where all these values were instilled in us on a daily basis. My mother was a strict catholic and you can bet we went to mass every Sunday. I also went to catholic schools and having a strong since of right and wrong was drilled into me daily. My family has strong religious beliefs. I always knew what my parents expected of me and that gave me a strong sense of security. My parents expected me to have a good work ethic, be responsible, have integrity, and have an obligation to do what is right. I think my family life and upbringing has had a strong influence over me and my nursing ethical decisions. I value my nursing job. I am grateful I have been fortunate to be in the field of nursing. I think it takes a special person to take care of people when they are in a vulnerable state and they need my nursing skills. When I take care of my patients, I treat them as if they were from my own family. I show them respect, care, and understanding. I have an obligation to uphold my nursing code ethics. The American Nurses Association has ethical principles and theories that nurses follow as guidelines for their nursing code of ethics; they include autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, fidelity, justice, paternalism. (ANA, 2012) Each one of these ethical principles gives the patient the ability to make a decision about their own health. That is what nurses do, we guide and educate our


References: The American Nurses Association (2012). Code of Ethics for Nurses. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses. moral compass. (n.d.). Dictionary.com 's 21st Century Lexicon. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moral compass My Nursing Ethic Andrea Mills September 23, 2012 NRS-437V Ethical Decision Making in Health Care
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Coercion
    • 2986 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Coercion

    References: American Nurses Association. (2000). Code of ethics for nurses: Draft nine. [on-line]. Available: http://www.ana.org/ethics/code9.pdf…

    • 2986 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Religion 134
    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Religion 134

    The role of tradition in religion in general. Moral compass to remind self to behave…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Moral Compass Research Paper
    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Moral Compass Research Paper

    My moral compass points are perseverance, responsibility, respect, and courage. My first point is perseverance which is something my mom always tells me because she never wants me to give up on anything, so even if I'm in a difficult situation, I try to do the best that I can. An event this has helped me would be doing vibrato on the violin. It took me a lot of practice and time in order for me to be able to vibrato on the violin, but I am glad I persevered. My second point is respect which would be something I have been told from kindergarten to now. A person who taught me to respect others and myself would be all the teachers I've met. They have all taught me to treat others equally and the way I would want to…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    moral compass
    • 1048 Words
    • 3 Pages

    moral compass

    In my past 18 years, I have been living in an environment that people telling me what should I do and what should I not to do. My mum taught me to be a good role model for my younger sister, my dad told me to study hard so I can have a good future. By going to school, teachers teach me that what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ from the textbook and I have also been learning that from the TV, newspaper and radio. The mass media is always a channel for me to receive what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ about the social. For example, there are critics about the politics, environmental issues etc.From time to time, my moral compass had been shaped by my parents and the social norms.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Karma Moral Compass
    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Karma Moral Compass

    A compass is a navigational tool used to guide its user in a desired direction. “What goes around comes around. Every time.”…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Moral Compass
    • 1938 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Moral Compass

    Moral vision is the spiritual and affective aspect of moral identity expressed in the power of myth, narrative, and images representing core values. This, in my opinion, is the most important of all of the moral compass directions. Although my moral vision is constantly being shaped by new experiences, it is my past experiences that affect my moral vision the most. My family life is what has shaped my moral vision to what it is today. First to shape my moral vision was my parents. Growing up, I watched my parents in their interactions with other people and during everyday situations. I attended Sunday school, per their direction, I played sports, and I went to school. While attending these functions, I acted in a manner that was consistent with what my parents were teaching me at home. If my parents had decided to teach me in a way that was negative to social interaction and unethical, I would have acted…

    • 1938 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Moral Compass Essay
    • 1920 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Moral Compass Essay

    According to the definition of the Moral Compass text, moral compass is the reflective, international adoption of values and behaviors as a framework for realizing the good in oneself, in others, and in the social and material environment. My own moral compass is constructed mainly by my parents and the eastern social values and principles of relationships, which are largely influenced by the thoughts and ideas of Buddhism, Taoism and the Confucianism. Among them, Confucianism affects my country’s social values and furthermore my parents and my moral compass the most. In the contrast of Western culture, Confucianism puts a huge emphasis on the relationships between individuals in family, school, society and the country. The courtesies and hierarchies are defined clear in various kinds of relationships. The harmony of a society and the nation is much more important than the individual interests. Parents tend to have more authorities and family values more than persons. My parents always taught me to be honest, considerate and self-sacrificed, and at the same time do your best to be competitive in academy and work performance. It is critical to solve the problem by yourself and try not to let it bother others. While making the decisions, you have to not only consider your benefits but also others’. Those are some important parts of my core believing.…

    • 1920 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Moral Compass
    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Moral Compass

    Moral compass is the principle and norm that leads us to proper and right behavior. Doing nothing that offenses others and public's interest, being helpful, and keep justice and honesty in mind is my core three levels for moral compass. I will try to better it and make it plentiful.…

    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Erikson's Identity Vs. Role Confusion
    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Erikson's Identity Vs. Role Confusion

    My religious identity and community have taught be the importance of helping others. The greatest actions that someone can take are the ones done not for reward but because they are the right things to do. My moral development through a religious community has shaped the way that I think about my life its purpose. I know that it will not always be easy to work as a nurse. Long hours, hard patients, seeing and caring for people when they are sick and dying, when they feel that their dignity has been taken and that they are at their rock bottom—these are not easy things to deal with. It is in those times that I will turn to my faith. I will look at the moral code that I have developed, and decide what my next action will be. According to Kohlberg’s theory, I have created a moral compass for myself using my religious identity. Kohlberg himself acknowledges the positive effect that religion can have on a person. Religion helps a person form a response to the uncertainty of “moral evil, suffering, and death. Religion offers a way of accepting reality as ultimately trustworthy in spite of the ambiguity occasioned by the gap between the moral ideal and the real, by the existence of suffering, injustice, and death” (Kohlberg & Power, 1981, p.213). When my moral compass does not tell me, what needs to be done, I will…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Define Moral Compass
    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Define Moral Compass

    Moral compass is a feeling which serves or guides a person’s knowledge of right and wrong, sense or intuition of correct virtues, morals, and ethics. It assists in making complex ethical choices and promotes consistency in these choices (The center for defined ethics: The case for a defined moral compass, n.d.). An organization has to ensure they have established a moral compass for everyone to abide by. It acts as a moral framework. We can do this by using 1700’s German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s philosophy, he believed one should use reason to figure out the rules by which we guide our conduct, then do our duty and follow the rules (Horowitz, 2011).…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Critical Thinking Essay in Comparative Business Ethics
    • 5103 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Critical Thinking Essay in Comparative Business Ethics

    I think that my upbringing and the role that my parents played in instilling these senses as well as promoting the development of "character" in me is what gives bearing to my moral and ethical compass. We are after all only products of our environment.…

    • 5103 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Kantian Ethics Research Paper
    • 2198 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Kantian Ethics Research Paper

    We can easily prove the thought process that one experiences before carrying out any action. A moral compass for each member in society is created through their exchanges with others and their environment. This moral compass is used to evaluate the action we are about to take. Furthermore, this moral compass is what creates a distinction between intentions and actions.…

    • 2198 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Moral Compass
    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Moral Compass

    Young adults and teenagers are capable of understanding what truly is right or what is wrong. They have the maturity and the intelligence level to discern a good decision from a bad one. The problem that faces our society is its competitive attitude. Competition, along with popularity and self-centeredness is what drives our decision making process. Instead of taking a problem and analyzing it to come to a conclusion as to whether it is morally acceptable, our society tends to weigh its choices on which option is more popular or which will get them further ahead of others. Because of the need to be on top our moral compass is pushed to the backburner while our ego leads the way.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Personal Moral Theory
    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Personal Moral Theory

    The 1st major step toward developing a personal moral theory is to decide on your ultimate goal.--- your Beacon on the Hill—an icon to represent what you conclude is the best your profession have to offer to the society.…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ethics
    • 1085 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ethics

    At this point of my life ,I thought my compass was true north as we heard Mr. O’Rourke talk about in the video lecture. I had strong values at all times or at least I thought I did. As my life went on I realized that my compass was north ,but it wasn't true north. I still had room to grow and become more mature in my decision-making. Sometimes it can be very hard to judge how ethic you are like a person because you are judging yourself. I graduated high school and soon after that I decided that I was going to join the Army instead of going to college.…

    • 1085 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More