THE ROLE OF NURSES IN MAINTAINING DIGNITY AT THE END OF LIFE: ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN PALLIATIVE CARE

Abstract

This study examines nursing ethics, specifically as they relate to palliative care for the terminally ill. It highlights the fact that nursing is a career that blends creative caregiving, scientific understanding, and human service. Florence Nightingale emphasized that nursing is a profession that demands a high moral standard from its practitioners. This paper explores what ethics are and how they should be used to guide the behavior of nurses, particularly in difficult end-of-life situations. It makes a distinction between morality and ethics, emphasizing the stability and universality of ethical principles in contrast to personal moral convictions. In addition, the study looks into the laws that control the nursing profession in Poland. It emphasizes the significance of the Nurses and Midwives Code of Ethics, which describes the duties that nurses have to patients, other nurses, and the nursing profession. Overall, the study emphasizes the value of ethics in palliative care, where nurses are essential in reducing pain and making sure that patients who are near death have a dignified death.