Abstract

The aim of this book is to examine some of the theoretical issues surrounding the Code of Professional Conduct and to explore some of its implications. Theories have been drawn from a wide range of disciplines, moral philosophy, ethics, psychology, sociology, education and nursing in order to widen the debate. Each chapter of the book examines one statement from the code and explores the concepts and problems that may relate to that statement. The breadth of debate is also influenced by the perceptions of the authors, which in many ways are very different: male and female, married and single, sociology and psychology, general nursing and psychiatry, Christian and undecided. However, what they have in common is that both are nurses and both are deeply concerned with the standards of care offered to the public and to the development of the professional.