Practice, ethics and spirituality in Critical Care Nursing

Nursing ethics was formed to find the most appropriate way of providing nursing care. Nurses must actively and continually adhere to the codes of ethics of the nursing profession so that they can provide optimal patient care in the course of clinical decision-making. Critical care nurses consider connections between the body, mind, and spirit in providing holistic nursing care to critically ill patients. Patients in critical care settings must cope with many stressors. Each patient’s response is unique and depends on a variety of environmental factors and individual differences. A person’s perceptions of self and relationships with others, spiritual values, and self-competency in social roles play a role in how he or she responds to stress or illness. Anxiety is a normal subjective response to a perceived or actual threat to self-integrity, which can range from a vague, generalized feeling of discomfort to a state of panic and loss of control.