We believe that the fundamental responsibilities of the nurse are to promote health, facilitate healing, and alleviate suffering. The need for nursing is universal. Inherent in nursing is the respect for life, dignity, and the rights of all persons. Nursing care is unrestricted by considerations of nationality, race, creed, color, age, sex, sexual preference, politics, or social status. Given that nurses practice in culturally diverse settings, professional nurses must have an understanding of the cultural background of clients in order to provide culturally appropriate interventions.
Nurses render services to clients who can be individuals, families, groups, or communities.
The client is an active participant in health care and should be included in all nursing care planning decisions. To provide services to others, each nurse has a responsibility towards the client, co-workers, nursing practice, the profession of nursing, society, and the environment. The nurse has a responsibility to model health care behaviors. Holistic nurses strive to achieve harmony in their own lives and assist others striving to do the same. The nurse's primary responsibility is to the client needing nursing care.