HSS 261 Unit 5 Discussion Board

Unit 5 Discussion

Epidemics and pandemics entail increased stress and strain on healthcare workers because of the right in demand against the available workforce. Studies show that pandemics like the Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic entail increased need for healthcare which makes healthcare providers like nurses as the face of the situation and “frontline soldiers” (Adams & Walls, 2020). According to Shanafelt et al. (2020) it is essential to understand and tackle the different sources of anxiety that health care professionals may have during pandemics. These include their safety because of access to sufficient personal protective equipment (PPEs), exposure to the disease and infecting their loved ones, lack of access to rapid testing if they develop symptoms and uncertainty about the support that they will get from their organizations. The implication is that these concerns affect their ability to make ethical decisions because of the dilemma they face of either providing care or protecting their own lives.

The case of Janet demonstrates the anxiety and dilemmas that these providers face. In making her decision, Janet as a nurse has an obligation to care for the patients and help them through the pandemic. However, she also has an equally an important and personal and life-threatening situation and obligation. She must protect herself from exposure as a health care provider. More importantly she needs to ensure that she does not spread the virus to her family. The personal values and morals as well as professional ethics that contribute to the dilemma include the love for her family and job, the need to offer best care and support her patients, honesty and integrity where she will have to be clear and not jeopardize her health and that of others, especially colleagues and family (Adams & Walls, 2020). Biomedical principles like justice, beneficence and non-maleficence are also essential.

Healthcare professionals and public health officials encounter ethical dilemmas when dealing with pandemics like COVID-19 that include integrity, duty of care and need to meet the principles of beneficence and justice for patients (Shanafelt et al., 2020). These professionals and officials have an obligation to protect the public against the spread of the disease yet the duty exposes them to the pandemics and threatens their health.

HSS 261 Unit 5 Discussion Board References

Adams, J. G., & Walls, R. M. (2020). Supporting the health care workforce during the COVID-

19 global pandemic. Jama, 323(15), 1439-1440. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.3972

Shanafelt, T., Ripp, J., & Trockel, M. (2020). Understanding and addressing sources of anxiety

among health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jama, 323(21), 2133-2134. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5893

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Assignment Description

Primary Response is due by Thursday (11:59:59pm Central), Peer Responses are due by Saturday (11:59:59pm Central).

Primary Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 200–250 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

For this Discussion Board, please complete the following:

Pandemics pose many ethical dilemmas because the rights of the individual and the well-being of the population (public health) may be in conflict. For example, resources may become scarce, and rationing leads to ethical dilemmas and decisions on who has access to healthcare services. Requirements to wear masks, social distance, self-isolation and quarantine, and vaccination often lead to conflicts of personal rights and public health mandates, as well as personal and professional ethics. COVID-19 is the most recent pandemic, but the same ethical dilemmas were faced over the past 20 years with the pandemics of SARS, Ebola, Zika, and influenza.

Watch this video about stopping the spread of COVID-19.

Read the following articles:

Supporting the Healthcare Workforce During the COVID-19 Global Epidemic

Understanding and Addressing Sources of Anxiety Among Healthcare Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Then, read the following case study.

Epidemics and pandemics pose ethical dilemmas to the community and to healthcare workers and healthcare institutions. Whether it is influenza, COVID-19, or other infectious disease outbreak, healthcare workers have professional and personal obligations to care for patients and are considered “essential personnel.” They have a duty to care for their patients but also responsibilities to care for themselves and their families. The healthcare organization also has a duty to care for its employees.

Consider Janet who is a 30-year-old medical assistant working in an urgent care center that is seeing many patients with respiratory illnesses and many are coming in for testing. The center has experienced shortages in its supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) and are short staffed at times.

Janet’s husband is concerned that she will develop the disease and bring it home to him, their children, and his mother who lives with them. He does not want her to go to work, but Janet does not want to abandon the patients or contribute to the stress of an already overworked healthcare team.

Based on the scenario, answer the following questions:

Janet must come to a decision and resolve her ethical dilemma. What is she likely to consider in making her decision? What personal values and morals and professional ethics contribute to the dilemma?

What other ethical dilemmas do healthcare professionals and public health officials face in dealing with pandemics such as influenza and COVID-19?

Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 50–100-word reply about their Primary Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following question:

What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and other classmates’ postings?

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.

HSS 261 Unit 5 Discussion Board Rubric

ExpectationPoints PossiblePoints EarnedCommentsApplication of Learning Material Content: Post demonstrates understanding of Learning Material content.20Application of Course Knowledge: Post contributes unique perspectives or insights gleaned from personal experience or examples from discipline.20DB Responses: Responds substantively to two posts. Responses encourage interaction in the Discussion Board and classroom community.20Organization: Post presents information logically and is clearly relevant to discussion topic.8Professional Language: Posts contain accurate grammar, spelling, and punctuation with few or no errors. (APA formatting is not required.)7Total Points75Total Points Earned

View a downloadable version of the Discussion Board Grading Rubric.

References

Adams, J. G., & Walls, R. M. (2020). Supporting the health care workforce during the COVID-19 global epidemic. Journal of the American Medical Association, 323(15), 1439–1440. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763136

Shanafelt, T., Ripp, J., & Trockel, M. (2020). Understanding and addressing sources of anxiety among health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of the American Medical Association, 323(21), 2133–2134. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2764380

The Hastings Center. (2020, November 18). Stop the spread [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S46Fp-NxwnY&feature=emb_logo