Imagine your self-standing next to the patient who requires truth from you! This is where veracity comes in. What is veracity? Veracity means being truthful. In healthcare veracity in nursing means to provide accurate and right information to the patients about their health. Nurses are required to share true information with the patient no matter how high the stakes are. For example, sharing tough news with the patient, being truthful about the mistake you made or explaining the treatment procedure and potential risks to the patient. What is the meaning of veracity in nursing and how can you master this concept for NCLEX? Let us dive deep into it.
Role of veracity in nursing ethics
Veracity is one of the seven principles in nursing ethics which means being truthful, that is nurses’ commitment to honesty to the patients, their families and other healthcare workers. It is important for the nurses to understand veracity for building trust and providing patient care.
Importance of veracity in nursing
Veracity is the core principle in nursing that is important for patient care. Here we will discuss why veracity is important in nursing.
- Building trust: it is important for the nurses to be honest with the patient and provide accurate information to build trust. If the nurses communicate with the patients with full honesty, they can feel secure, which is the foundation of effective care and patient cooperation.
- Making informed decision: when nurses share accurate and right information to the patient about the treatment and potential risks then the patients can make informed decision.it is the right of the patient to be fully informed about the treatment, medications, and health.
- Patients’ autonomy: Veracity respects patient autonomy by giving the freedom to the patients to make decisions based on the accurate information that is given by the nurses and healthcare workers.
- Professional integrity: professional integrity in nursing means commitment to honesty, ethical behavior and transparency which plays important role in building trust with patients. For example, if nurse administers medication to the patient and later realizes that the dose she gave was wrong. Nurse in this situation should fulfill the duty of veracity and teel the patient about the situation because this will also help in protecting the patient from any kind of harm.by maintaining veracity, this can build trust between patients and nurses.
- Emotional support: By being honest, nurses can provide emotional support to the patient. if the news is tough and difficult. It is important to understand that patients appreciate honesty no matter how hard it is and make them feel respected.
- Legal accountability: It is the legal duty of the nurses to share accurate and right information with the patients. This will eradicate any type of misunderstandings and harm that might occur due to withheld information.
What is the difference between fidelity and veracity in nursing?
Fidelity in nursing means keeping the promise or being faithful to commitments. For example, if a nurse promises the patient that she will keep check on her after one hour then she must fulfill this promise.
Veracity in nursing means being honest and truthful to the patient, for example if you give wrong dose of medication to the patient then instead of hiding it you should be honest about it and tell the patient to avoid any harm.
What are the examples of veracity ethical principles?
Veracity is one of the most important ethical principles which means being honest and truthful to the patient about treatment, diagnosis, risks related to the treatments and more.
Which situation violates veracity?
If the nurse is hiding information and is not being fully honest with the patient, then this means violation of veracity. Nurses must be accurate and truthful about any information sharing to the patient. This will also build trust between the patient and the nurses, which is important for effective patient care.
Examples of veracity in nursing
Some of the examples of veracity in nursing are as follows:
- Being honest with the patient and their family members about diagnosis and treatment.
- Giving all the accurate and informed consent to medical treatment.
- Acting as a patient advocate so their rights are not violated.
- Admitting mistakes if made any during treatment.
- Giving accurate and right documentation.
What are the seven ethical principles in nursing?
The seven ethical principles in nursing are:
- Autonomy
- Beneficence
- Non-maleficence
- Justice
- Fidelity
- Veracity
- Accountability
Conclusion
Veracity plays important role in nursing which focuses on honesty and truthfulness in patient care.it is essential for the nurses to provide accurate and right information to the patient so that they can make informed decisions about their treatments and health. This foster trust and supports informed decision making.
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