PROFESSIONAL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR NURSES AND MIDWIVES

(Nurses and Midwives Act No. 31 of 1997)

Part II

Nurses and midwives, are personally accountable for their practice and in their exercise of professional accountability, they must:

 

1. Always perform in such a manner as to promote and protect the interests, safety and well-being of clients.

 

2. Ensure that no action or omission on their part or within their sphere of responsibility is harmful to the interest, condition and safety of clients.

 

3. Regularly maintain and update their professional knowledge and competence through education, research and self-motivated learning.

 

4. Acknowledge any limitations in their knowledge and competence and decline any duties or responsibilities unless able to perform them in a safe and skilled manner.

 

5. Work in an open and co-operative manner with clients and their families, foster their independence recognize and respect their involvement in the planning and delivery of care.

 

6. Uphold the principles of leadership, accountability, partnership and sustainability in the delivery of health care recognizing and respecting the contributions of other members of the health care team.

 

7. Recognize and respect the uniqueness and dignity of each client and respond to their need for care, irrespective of their ethnic origin, political affiliation, religious beliefs, gender, traditional beliefs, values and practices, personal attributes and the nature of their health problem or any other factors.

 

8. Report to an appropriate person or authority at the earliest possible time, any objections by the client to any relevant procedures which may be contrary to their professional practice.

 

9. Avoid abuse of their privileged relationship with clients and of their privileged access allowed to them, their property, residence or work place.

 

10. Protect all confidential information concerning the clients obtained in the course of your professional practice and make disclosures only with consent by order of the court, GNC or where they can justify disclosure in the wide public interest.

 

11. Report to an appropriate authority or person, having regard to the physical, psychological and social effect on clients, any circumstances in the environment of care which could jeopardize standard of practice and quality of care.

 

12. Report to an appropriate person or authority where it appears that the health or safety of colleagues is at risk as such circumstances may compromise standards of practice and care.

 

13. Practice within your qualifications, competences, knowledge and experience, and consult and or refer clients for further management.

 

14. Support professional colleagues in the context of their knowledge, experience and sphere of responsibility to develop their professional competence and assist others in the health care team to contribute safely to the provision of quality care to a level appropriate to the roles.

 

15. Refuse any gift, favour or hospitality from clients currently in their care which might be interpreted as bribe, nepotism or seeking to extend influence to obtain preferential considerations.

 

16. Ensure that your professional status is not used to promote commercial product.

 

17. Declare any financial or other interest in relevant organizations providing such goods and services and ensure that their professional judgment is not influenced by any commercial consideration.

 

18. Ensure that the professional research ethics are upheld at all times.

 

19. Uphold the standards of Nursing and Midwifery by maximizing utilization of available resources.

 

 

 

Part III

 

1. ADMINISTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINARY CODE

 

The Professional Code of Conduct shall be administered by the General Nursing Council of Zambia (GNCZ) and all stakeholders.

 

1.1. Application of the Professional Conduct and Disciplinary Code for Nurses and midwives

 A. Practitioners

i. It is the responsibility of the individual practitioner to acquire a copy of the Professional Conduct and Disciplinary Code from GNCZ.

ii. It is the responsibility of the individual practitioner to ensure that he/she reads and understands the obligations placed upon him/ her through the Professional Code of Conduct for Nurses and Midwives.

B. Employers

i. It is the responsibility of the employer to acquire a copy of the Professional Conduct and Disciplinary Code from the General Nursing Council of Zambia.

ii. Each employer is responsible to ensure that the Professional Conduct and Disciplinary Code is understood by all nurses and midwives including the stakeholders.

iii. It is the responsibility of the employer to provide an enabling environment for nurses and midwives to uphold the Professional Conduct and Disciplinary Code

iv. It is the responsibility of each employer to ensure that they have in place a mechanism for implementing the Professional Conduct and Disciplinary Code

C. Consumers

i. The rights of the consumer shall be respected in the delivery of care through the Professional Conduct and Disciplinary Code

D. Breach of the Professional Conduct and Disciplinary code

 i. Breach of the Professional Conduct and Disciplinary Code will warrant disciplinary action being taken against the offender as outlined in the Disciplinary Code

E. Grievance

i. Any nurse/midwife who has any grievance regarding the application of Professional Code of Conduct can, after following the laid down procedures of the institution, complain in writing to the Registrar of the Council.

 

Part IV 2. DISCIPLINARY CODE FOR NURSES AND MIDWIVES
SECTION	INFAMOUS CONDUCT	DESCRIPTION	PENALTY
			1ST BREACH	2ND BREACH	3RD BREACH
2.1. Nursing qualification	a)     Falsely claiming nursing qualifications	Forging any document purporting to be a nursing and or midwifery professional certificate	Erasure
	b)    Obtaining nursing qualifications by fraud	Registration by fraud	Erasure
		False representation	Erasure
		Concealment of material facts	Erasure
		Make or cause unauthorized entry, alteration or erasure in a register or any other certified copy of any entry, register or certificate	Erasure
2.2. issuance of license	a) Making or giving any false statement or information in connection with the application for issuing a practicing licence	False representation of facts	Erasure
		Concealment of material facts	Erasure
		Makes unauthorized entry, alteration or erasure in a register or any other certified copy of any entry, register or certificate	Erasure
		Causes to be made unauthorized entry, alteration or erasure in a register or any other certified copy of any entry, register or certificate	Erasure
2.3. Impersonation	a) Impersonating another licensed nurse, midwife or specialist or permitting another person to use practitioner’s certificate.	Use of a badge or uniform of a person registered under this Act	Caution	Erasure
		Permitting another person to use practitioner’s certificate	Erasure
		Masquerading to be any other professional other than that of a nurse and or midwife.	Caution	Erasure
2.4. Nursing Practice	a) Incompetence	Inability to perform required nursing and/or midwifery procedures according to the level of training	Censure	Caution	Erasure
		Administering of overdose / under-dose of drug(s)	Caution	Erasure
		Failure to supervise personnel to whom nursing and/ or midwifery tasks were delegated.	Censure	Caution	Erasure
		Failure to refer patient to appropriate practitioner.	Caution	Erasure
		Giving improper explanation to a patient relating to an operation or procedure	Censure	Caution	Erasure
		Failure to observe patient’s condition and respond appropriately	Caution	Erasure
		Failure to implement the curricula according to guidelines	Censure	Caution	Erasure
		Failure to maintain set standards of education in Training Institution	Censure	Caution	Erasure
		Failure to carry out prescribed instructions and/or administer care	Caution	Erasure
		Failure to document care provided	Caution	Erasure
		Poorly documented care given	Censure	Caution	Erasure
		Failure to provide safe and clean patient’s environment	Censure	Caution	Erasure
		Failure to interpret patient assessment and/or observation findings	Caution	Erasure
		Wrong drug administration	Caution	Erasure
	b) Negligence	Failure or refusal to refer patient to appropriate practitioner on time	caution	erasure
		Failure or refusal to observe patient’s condition and respond appropriately	caution	erasure
		Failure or refusal to implement the curricula according to guidelines	caution	erasure
		Failure or refusal to maintain set standards of education in Training Institution	caution	erasure
		Enrolling a student into training institution without stipulated qualifications	caution	erasure
		Failure or refusal to supervise personnel to whom nursing and midwifery tasks were delegated	censure	caution	erasure
		Failure or refusal to carry out prescribed instructions and administer care	caution	erasure
		Failure or refusal to document care provided	censure	caution	erasure
		Failure or refusal to provide safe and clean patient’s environment	censure	caution	erasure
		Failure or refusal to take care of client property resulting into loss	censure	caution	erasure
		Failure or refusal to adequately assess and/or observe the patient	caution	erasure
		Use of cell phones and/or ear piece while attending to clients	censure	caution	erasure
		Delegating to unqualified personnel	caution	erasure
	c) Giving improper explanation to a patient relating to a major operation	Giving improper explanation to a patient relating to a major operation or procedure	censure	caution	erasure
	d) Divulging professional confidence	Leakage of confidential information relating to the profession.	caution	erasure
		Breach of confidentiality pertaining to patient’s welfare	caution	erasure
		Releasing information pertaining to the profession without following established channels of communication	Caution	Erasure	erasure
		Malicious and/or public accusation by a practitioner against a fellow practitioner	Caution	Erasure	erasure
	e) Unprofessional behaviors bringing the professional integrity in disrepute	Consuming alcohol while in prescribed uniform	Caution.	Erasure	erasure
		Fighting, beating or disorderly behavior on or off duty	censure	caution	erasure
		Accepting and soliciting gift(s) from a client with a view to providing preferential treatment	caution	erasure
		Failure to be in prescribed uniform while on duty	Caution	Erasure
	f) Procuring, aiding, attempting, agreeing or offering to procure or assist at a criminal abortion	Procuring a criminal abortion	erasure
		Aiding a criminal abortion	erasure
		Attempting a criminal abortion	erasure
		Agreeing to a criminal abortion	Erasure
		Offering to procure a criminal abortion	erasure
		Assist at a criminal abortion	Erasure
2.5. Use of alcohol	a) Practicing under the influence of alcohol	Practicing under the influence of alcohol	Erasure		erasure
		Drunkenness on duty	Erasure
2.6. Practicing without a license	a) Practicing without a license	Practicing without a license	caution	erasure
2.7. Advertisement	a) Advertising a Practitioner’s services	Posting on social media one’s image in prescribed uniform for the purpose of advertising one’s services	censure	caution	erasure
		Posting on social media client’s picture without patient’s permission	caution	erasure
		Participating in a commercial advert without permission from GNC	caution	erasure
2.8. Press statement	a) Issuing unauthorized press statement	Issuing unauthorized press statement with regards to the profession and clients.	caution	erasure
2.9. Drug acts or omission	a) The preparation, consumption or self-administration of any drug included in the Dangerous Drug Acts or listed under the Schedule of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act	The preparation of any drug included in the Controlled Drug Acts or listed under the Schedule of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act or any other such laws as may be amended from time to time	caution	erasure
		Consumption of any drug included in the Controlled Drug Acts or listed under the Schedule of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act or any other such laws as may be amended from time to time.	caution	erasure
		Self-administration of any drug included in the Controlled  Drug Acts or listed under the Schedule of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act or any other such laws as may be amended from time to time	caution	erasure
		The preparation, consumption or administration of any drug included in the Controlled  Drug Acts or listed under the Schedule of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act or such other laws on another person without prescription	Erasure
2.10. Drug acts or omission	a) Use of cannabis	Use of cannabis	caution	erasure
2.11. Drug acts or omission	a) Alcoholism	Alcoholism	caution	erasure
2.12. Patient abuse	a) Negligence – causing death or deformity	Negligence – causing death or deformity	erasure
	b) Negligence – in the giving of prescribed drug treatments	Negligence – in the giving of prescribed drug treatments	caution	erasure
	c) Abuse of patients physically, mentally or sexually	Abuse of patients physically	erasure
		Abuse of patients mentally	Caution	erasure
		Abuse of patients sexually	erasure
		Violation of patient’s / client’s rights	caution	erasure
	d) Failure or refusing to offer assistance to a patient	Failure or refusing to offer professional assistance to a patient	caution	erasure
		Assigning nursing and/or midwifery duties to patients and/or support person(s) who have no ability or knowledge and skill to perform such duties	Caution	Erasure	erasure
2.13. Theft and other dishonesty Acts	a) Theft of hospital property	Theft of hospital property	erasure
	b) Other theft	Other theft	erasure
	c) Other Dishonesty Acts	Offer of and /or acceptance of bribes and other favour	caution	erasure
		Nepotism: Exerting your influence to favour a category of clients, colleagues, religious or political group	censure	caution	erasure
		Corrupt practices by a  nurse and/or midwife	erasure
		Plagiarism – use of another person’s works e.g. GNC documents without giving appropriate credit	caution	erasure
		Use of one’s professional status for unlawful gain.	caution	erasure
		Use of one’s professional status to gain sexual advantage over student nurses and/or midwives	caution	erasure
		Practicing outside the scope of nursing and midwifery  practice	censure	caution	erasure
		Examination malpractice as provided for in SI 92, Regulation 4 (4)	erasure
2.14. Proceedings in the courts of Law	a) Publish or disclose to unauthorized person information relating to the Council that comes to your knowledge in the course of your duties without the written consent given by or on behalf of the council	Publish or disclosure to unauthorized person information relating to the Council that comes to your knowledge in the course of your duties without the written consent given by or on behalf of the Council	Erasure
	b) Proceedings in the courts of Law	Being found guilty of Infamous conduct by the proceedings in the court of law	Erasure

 

 

APPEAL

 

All appeals should be to the high Court within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the Council’s verdict (disciplinary action).