Nurses have the greatest potential to improve a patient's well-being. As a profession, nurses must promote the core values ​​and code of ethics among themselves. Nurse practitioners must understand and apply specific knowledge and skills related to core values ​​such as nursing caring, advocacy, holism, and professionalism to help patients in their critical condition (Volp 2007a). This essay will discuss the core values ​​of responsible nursing practice and the code of ethics in relation to the young patient suffering from paraplegia. Paternalism A policy or practice of treating patients in a paternal manner, including providing for their needs without assigning them responsibilities. . Paternalistic practices, in which providers confer treatment or service on one or more people without their consent, apparently due to their limited autonomy or diminished capacity, are widespread in health care and societies around the world. . There are many problems surrounding paternalistic practices (Cody WK). So, doctors and nurses make decisions about treating patients or their clients, but it goes against the patient's choices or thoughts. According to doctors and nurses, this is beneficial for the patient (Jones). On the other hand, when the patient makes an autonomous decision, he or she self-harms, leading to conflict between the nurses charged with caring for the patient and the patient's right to autonomy. Often, nurses and other medical staff resorted to paternalistic measures to solve the problem (Jones). According to Jones (p. 379), he suggests that paternalism and autonomy are two inversely varying parameters along a spectrum of independence. Additionally, nurses and doctors have created an imbalance between...... middle of paper ......ier, article: AN 11355240.Johnstone, M 2005, 'Ethics and Professional Practice', in J Crisp & Taylor (eds.), Potter and Perry's Fundamentals of Nursing, Melbourne, Australia. Lane, P, O'Brien, U, Gooney, MA and Reid, T 2005, 'The progression of holism in postgraduate critical care nursing curricula', Dimensions of critical nursing, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 131-138, accessed 6 May 2011, EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier database, article: AN 17099480. Moore C 2008, 'A caring nurse', Bella Online: The Voice of Women, accessed 1 March 2011, http:/ /www.bellaonline.com/articles/art43027.aspRowe, J 2005, 'Nursing: the art of caring', in J Crisp & Taylor (eds.), Potter and Perry's Fundamentals of Nursing, Brisbane, Australia. Taylor, C 2005 , “Managing Client Care” in J Crisp & C Taylor (eds.), Potter and Perry's Fundamentals of Nursing, Melbourne, Australia.