Honesty and Integrity in Nursing

One of the most important aspects of nursing is the trusting relationship people expect to have with their nurse. Nursing (whether RN Registered Nursing, LVN Licensed Vocational Nursing or LPN Licensed Practical Nursing) is one of the most ethical professions in that people feel an innate ability to trust their nurse, whether s/he is caring for their newborn premie in the intensive care nursery or their ailing grandmother in a skilled nursing facility. Many times physicians may leave clients and families with more questions than answers. Nurses serve to bridge the gap between medical knowledge and information given by the physician and how that new information can be absorbed and understood by the client and family members.

The nurse is the one who is usually in the room as family members voice their feelings about a newly diagnosed illness or change in condition. Questions that clients and family members have about how to deal with these changes may be most easily voiced to the nurse, as the nurse appears to have more time, and perhaps more patience to answer the questions. A nurse cannot be expected to know all of the answers, but his or her professional behavior dictates that if s/he doesn’t know the answer or isn’t sure, that they are able to ask the doctor and ensure the client and family that s/he will return with more information. It is of vital importance that the nurse has the ethical standard of being able to say, “I don’t know.”

Being afraid to admit to not knowing something is ultimately a weakness in nursing, because it may lead the nurse to say something s/he does not know to be true. It is always better to say, “I don’t know, but I will find out for you.” Being truthful about what you do or do not know enables others to trust you. Nurses are not expected to be all knowing, although there is a great deal that is learned in LVN courses in nursing school and in taking care of clients and families. Nurses are encouraged to be human, to connect with their patients and to engage in authentic communication.