Abstract

In this article, the authors discuss some empirical and conceptual basics of professional integrity of conduct in healthcare professions, such as nursing and medicine. They do so in three sections: the basics of professional conduct, including what they are, why they are, and how they work together, integrating original research as well as practical applications. We suggest professional integrity is integral to ethical caring practice, for the good for the patient is at stake, involving the trust of the patient in the professional, in her professional position, and in her profession as a whole. Professional integrity is the moral quality to keep together three dimensions of one’s person, one’s professional practice, and the patient’s interest. Several factors are identified either supporting or eroding professional integrity and the ability to manage integrity issues in practice. Those factors constitute five rules of thumb as well as reflective tools.

Keywords: professional ethics, professional integrity, moral wholeness, reliability, trustworthiness