Imagine that you are a nurse informaticist and an electronic health records (EHR) vendor employs you as the project manager for a hospital’s EHR implementation. If your team has technically satisfied all of the project requirements specified in the project plan but the hospital staff has encountered numerous issues during the go-live, what level of continued support would be ethical? After all, your team has technically fulfilled its requirements. What is the ethical balance between providing the minimum required level of support and becoming mired in a support process that never seems to end?

In this Discussion, you consider these issues and other ethical issues you have experienced as you review the Project Management Institute Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the Code of Ethics for Nurses in relation to HIT projects.

Question: Write up a  comparison of the Project Management Institute Code of Ethics and the Professional Conduct and the Code of Ethics for Nurses. Indicate where there is overlap and where the two codes differ. Describe an experience you have had that illustrates an issue in one or both of the codes of ethics.

Support answer with at least three APA scholar references

ANSWER

Comparing Project Management Institute Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct with the Code of Ethics for Nurses in HIT Projects

In the realm of healthcare information technology (HIT) projects, ethical considerations play a pivotal role in guiding decisions and actions of professionals involved. The Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Code of Ethics for Nurses provide distinct but overlapping frameworks that highlight ethical standards for their respective roles. This essay aims to compare the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct with the Code of Ethics for Nurses, identifying areas of overlap and divergence, and illustrating an ethical issue through a real-world experience.

Overlap

Professional Integrity: Both codes emphasize the significance of maintaining professional integrity and honesty. PMI’s focus on honesty, transparency, and avoiding conflicts of interest aligns with nursing ethics, which also stresses truthfulness and commitment to ethical standards in patient care.

Competence and Lifelong Learning: Both codes emphasize the commitment to competence and continuous learning. Nursing ethics encourage nurses to enhance their knowledge and skills, while PMI’s commitment to professional development ensures project managers’ proficiency in leading HIT initiatives effectively.

Divergence

Patient-Centered Care: The nursing code places the patient’s well-being at the forefront, emphasizing patient-centered care, advocacy, and preserving patient dignity. While the PMI code prioritizes stakeholders’ interests, it may not inherently focus on direct patient impact as much as nursing ethics do.

Confidentiality: Nursing ethics explicitly address patient confidentiality and the importance of safeguarding patient information. While PMI emphasizes confidentiality and data protection, the context may differ, as it relates to sensitive project information and stakeholders’ interests.

Illustrating an Ethical Issue

A real-world experience that underscores ethical issues in both codes involves a HIT project aimed at transitioning a hospital to a new EHR system. The project team encountered unforeseen challenges during implementation, resulting in disruptions to patient care, delayed medication administration, and compromised patient safety. While the PMI code mandates the project manager’s responsibility to ensure stakeholder interests are upheld, the nursing code demands a nurse’s commitment to patient safety and advocacy. In this scenario, nurses faced an ethical dilemma between following the directives of the project manager to minimize project delays and advocating for patient safety by raising concerns about compromised care.

The overlap between the two codes lies in the principles of integrity and competence, which are fundamental to both nursing and project management ethics. However, the divergence arises in the priority of patient-centered care for nurses and stakeholder interests for project managers. The real-world experience illustrates how nurses and project managers must navigate complex ethical situations where patient safety and stakeholder interests intersect.

Conclusion

The PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the Code of Ethics for Nurses serve as guiding frameworks for professionals involved in HIT projects. While overlap exists in principles of integrity and competence, differences emerge in the priority of patient-centered care versus stakeholder interests. Ethical issues can arise at the intersection of these codes, as demonstrated by a real-world experience highlighting the challenging balance between project goals and patient safety. Understanding and applying these ethical principles are essential for professionals engaged in HIT projects to ensure the delivery of quality care while upholding the highest standards of professional conduct.