International Codes of Ethics to be adopted from 1 March 2018

Rosa Hearnshaw

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), Australian College of Midwives (ACM), Australian College of Nursing (ACN) and Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) have agreed to jointly adopt the International Council of Nurses Code of ethics for nurses (ICN Ethics) and the International Confederation of Midwives Code of ethics for midwives (ICM Ethics) as the guiding documents for ethical decision-making for nurses and midwives in Australia.

A series of collaborative meetings, comprising representatives from the NMBA, ACM, ACN and ANMF (the steering group), were held to determine the shape of the review of the codes of ethics.

International codes of ethics will be adopted for Australian nurses and midwives from 1 March 2018.