12
STRATEGIC GOAL 1
Ensure that public protection is at the centre
of all our activities.
STRATEGIC
GOALS AND
PROJECTS
2012
2013
Publish a new Code of Conduct for
nurses and guidelines on professional
boundaries and social media
A new Code of Conduct for nurses was published in July
2012, setting out the standards of behaviour that nurses
are expected to uphold in their professional practice.
The Code is closely aligned with the Code of Health and
Disability Services Consumers’ Rights.
Articulating the values and principles at the heart of
competent nursing, the Code is also a resource for health
consumers, employers and other organisations, enabling
them to evaluate the conduct of nurses. The Council
produced the new Code in line with its role to protect
the health and safety of the public by setting standards
of clinical competence, ethical conduct and cultural
competence for nurses. It consulted extensively with
stakeholders about what the Code should encompass.
The Code is an overarching document providing a direct
focus on professional conduct. Framed around four core
values of respect, trust, partnership and integrity and
eight primary principles, it enables nurses to refect on the
standards of conduct expected of the profession.
The new Code, which is a total rewrite of the 1994 Code,
was warmly received across the profession and the
sector. Reasserting the values of care and respect that
most nurses hold as fundamental, it explicitly states those
values as requirements to support nurses and give them
a clear framework for escalating concerns.
By the end of March 2013, presentations and workshops on
the Code had been delivered to nearly 2,100 nurses throughout
the country. The Council is also working closely with nursing
educators and employers so that they can support nurses to
complete professional development on the Code, which is
required to meet continuing competence requirements in the
next three years.
Guidelines:
Professional Boundaries
The new Guidelines:
Professional Boundaries
, released alongside
the Code of Conduct, provides more detailed information and
advice and highlights the principles underpinning the professional
therapeutic relationship.
It aims to help nurses to navigate the boundary between the
professional and the personal, and to increase awareness of
their professional responsibility to maintain appropriate personal,
sexual and fnancial boundaries in relationships with current and
former health consumers and their families.
Guidelines:
Social Media and Electronic Communication
Guidelines on social media were published in November 2012 to
help nurses think about their use of social media and electronic
communications in relation to the standards of professional
conduct outlined in the Code.
The guidelines explore the benefts and pitfalls of social media,
providing more detailed information about, for example, issues
of social media and privacy.