Editorial: Are we failing to prepare nurses in the UK and Australia to practice by the codes of conduct?

Nursing pre-registration curricula in the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia (Aust.) are underpinned by codes of conduct which will guide their everyday practice when they complete their program and register as a nurse. These codes are prescribed by national registration organisations - the Nurses and Midwives Council UK (NMC UK) and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMB Aust.). In the UK the code is called 'Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives' (NMC UK, 2008) and the Australia equivalent is the 'Code of professional conduct for nurses in Australia' (ANMC, 2008a). There is separate code in Australia for midwifery (ANMC, 2008b). While variations exist, overall, as would be expected, there is a significant similarity between the UK and Australian codes.