title: Understanding the Code: acting in a patient's best interests.
abstract: The revised Code of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the statutory professional regulator for registered district nurses, makes clear that while district nurses can interpret the values and principles for use in community settings, the standards are not negotiable or discretionary. They must be applied or the district nurse's fitness to practice will be called into question. In this article in the continuing series analysing the legal implications of the Code on district nurse practice, the author considers the fourth standard that requires district nurses to act in the best interests of people at all times.
authors: Senior Lecturer in Health Law, College of Health Science, Swansea University.
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Griffith
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009313:National Health Programs; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: autonomy; decision making; discrimination; magnetic importance; statutory checklist