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Growing up, I knew that I wanted to work in the medical field. The reasoning for my choice sounded like the response of a beauty pageant contestant -- I wanted to help people. Trite as that sounds, that really was my reason. I graduated from nursing school 23 years ago and have only worked in the nursing profession since that time.

I have always been proud to be a nurse - even when some in my family said that I was "too smart" to be "just" a nurse. Nursing has never been just a job that has a great deal of flexibility and is always in demand. Sure I make money working as a nurse, but I also get the profound satisfaction that I made a difference in someone's life.

When we received our nursing pins at our graduation ceremony, we held miniature nursing lanterns in our hands and recited the Nurses' Creed. The Creed begins, "Lord, let me begin today with your blessing to provide care for those who need me." The last line of the Creed calls upon God to "Let your healing light shine through my hands."

Nursing is not just about medicine, it is about ethics. Every day nurses are faced with a myriad of ethical choices. In 1950 the American Nurses Association developed its first Code of Ethics for Nurses. The code was most recently revised in 2001 in part due to the technological advances in medicine and the growing role of the nurse. The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics states that "The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes or the nature of health problems." The ANA Code of Ethics also states, "The nurse promotes, advocates for and strives to protect the health, safety and rights of the patient." According to the Code of Ethics, "nurses must act under a code of ethical conduct that is grounded in the principles of fidelity and respect for the dignity, worth and self determination of patients."

Despite the revised Code of Ethics in Nursing, the American Nurses Association issued a statement in support of the removal of Terri Schindler Schiavo's feeding tube. Barbara A. Blakeney, MS, RN, President of the ANA, stated "Terri Schiavo's physicians, over many years, have declared her to be in a persistent vegetative state. Furthermore, there is evidence that Terri Schiavo expressed her wishes not to have her life artificially maintained under such circumstances."

As a strong-willed patient advocate, I resent Mrs. Blakeney's attempt at political correctness and lack of humanity. A profession that espouses respect for the dignity and worth of patients supports death by starvation and dehydration? An organization of health care professionals stands alongside a Judge who ordered that nothing, including ice chips, be given to a patient? A profession that is dominated by females supports a husband's decision to refuse therapy services and other personal care, such as mouth care, to his wife? In this age of technological advances, a nationally recognized nursing organization supports discontinuation of basic nourishment without updated medical tests to determine the patient's true status?

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