Ethical Dilemma And Influenza Vaccination

Studies have shown that many factors have been contributing to influence patient’s care in an ethical manner. What factors could affects one decision for their medical care? Does it also included the nurse’s individual views or should consider their moral obligations? But what is ethics really is? Based on the book Nursing Ethics by Butts & Rich, “Ethics is a systematic approach to understand, analyze, and distinguish matters of right and wrong, good and bad, and admirable and deplorable as they relate to the well-being”. Ethics should follow the current AMA guidelines.

The topic of ethics is prevalent in health care and addresses a broad range of topics in nursing. In almost every interaction with a patient there could be a situation that may bring up the question of ethics. Fortunately, there is the realization that placing the nurse in the care of a patient, may put the medical personnel in an environment where the ethics are questioned. There are whole departments dedicated to advising nurses in these situations. There are also ethic committees to help guide you when you find yourself in a situation that may question your practice or circumstances.

Mandatory Influenza Vaccinations for healthcare providers can be a controversial topic for some and may propose a challenge to some provider’s ethical values and beliefs. The topic of mandatory vaccination for influenza (“flu”) has been widely studied and debated among professionals over several years. It is apparent that there is some movement towards a mandatory vaccination for influenza by healthcare institutions as the benefit out weighs the risk on several fronts. “Influenza infection is associated with 36,000 excess deaths and > 200,000 hospitalizations in the United States annually. It is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable death in the United States every year” (Babcock, Geminhart, Jones, Dunagan, & Woeltje, 2010, p. 459).

Nurses are faced with ethical issues and dilemmas on a regular basis. Nurses must understand his or her values and morals to be able to deal adequately with the ethical issues he or she is faced with. Some ethical issues nurses are exposed to may be more difficult than others and the ethical decision making process is learned over time.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this narrative review is to discuss what influenza is? And what the ethical and morality of flu vaccinations. This discussion is grounded whether or not flu vaccinations are necessary for individuals.

In America, it is the norm for everyone to get vaccinated. U.S. citizens live in a country that claims to be a democracy, but somehow that gets away with forcing us to execute activites and tricking us into believing they are always correct and trustworthy. For example, the United States government is slowly and secretly trying to make it a requirement for everyone to get every vaccination. Here’s how they are doing it: The pharmaceutical companies that develop and produce the recommended vaccinations and medications, donate millions of dollars to the FDA. In 2014 their donations made up 94% of the FDA’s total budget, which ended up equaling 4.7 billion dollars (Mercola). The FDA is the Food and Drug Administration, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Once the FDA approves the pharmaceutical companies new medications or vaccinations, their representatives are allowed to go to medical offices and distribute their product. Unfortunately, they often leave out information about side effects, and more importantly, ingredients. Then the misinformed doctors continue the trend to their patients.

Ethics are rules of conduct and moral principles of an individual which have various origins such as family, culture, and social environment. Given the diversity of people in the healthcare profession and the importance of providing care that is ethically sound

According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, ethics is defined as “moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior.” Therefore, in an ideal world, ethics should play the ultimate role when making a decision. If ethics are the principles which guides one’s behavior then, ideally, all decisions should be made entirely based on ethics. Unfortunately, such is not always the case.

Moreover, anti-immunization people argue that vaccines use aborted fetal cells which violates the commandment “Thou shalt not murder” (Heimer). Although this may be true, religious leaders, including the pope, have said that parents should not use it against vaccinating their children (Neporent). Some childhood vaccines, including rubella do contain a human cell-line called the WI-38 human diploid lung fibroblasts (Ingredients). Merck, a vaccine manufacturer, did acknowledge that the cells were taken from an electively aborted fetus, and they were used to start a cell line, which then multiplied over and over again (Neporent). But, according to Merck, the cell lines have been more than three generations removed from their origin and no new

`Ethics' is defined as ."..the basis on which people...decide that certain actions are right or wrong and whether one ought to do something or has a right to something"(Rumbold, 1986). In relating `ethics' to nursing care, "Nursing decisions affect people... nurses have the power to good or harm to their patients" (Bandman et al, 2002). In this essay, the author will also identify the most important ethical principles and concepts of Evan's case, will outline the different stages of one's approach to ethical decision-making by utilising the "DECIDE Model for Ethical Decision-Making" founded by Thompson et al (2000) and will make a decision on the best course of action to take as a nurse in this

The Code of Ethics for Nurses was created to be a guide for nurses to perform their duties in a way that is abiding with the ethical responsibilities of the nursing profession and quality in nursing care. The Code of Ethics has excellent guidelines for how nurses should behave, however; these parameters are not specific. They do not identify what is right and wrong, leaving nurses having to ultimately make that decision. Ethics in nursing involves individual interpretation based on personal morals and values. Nursing professionals have the ethical accountability to be altruistic, meaning a nurse who cares for patients without self-interest. This results in a nurse functioning as a patient advocate, making decisions that are in the best

As is evident from the definition, ethics is largely subjective and will be influenced by a number of internal and external factors such as attitudes, beliefs, family upbringing, cultural and ethnic background and work environment to name but a few of the many (Freegard et al., 2013). It is important for a nurse to be aware of what ethical practice is and to be aware of the factors that can impact this in order to better understand their ethical point of view as well as the ethical point of view of others, to better practice in a manner that is ethical and right.

Ethics and Morals play an important role in the nursing profession; nurses are confronted with choices to make every day, and some of them more challenging than others. Ethics are affirmations between what it can be right or erroneous. For our society ethics is presented as a complex system of principles and beliefs. This system serves as an approach with the purpose of ensuring the protection of each individual within the society. On the other hand, morals are basic standards between what is right or wrong; each individual learns to identify these standards during the early stages of human development (Catalano, 2009). A person with morals is usually somebody who recognizes how to respond to the needs of another individual by giving care and keeping a level of responsibility while giving this care (Catalano, 2009).

Another ethical approach to the influenza vaccine shortage is the fairness and justice (egalitarian) approach better described by Velasquez et al., (1996), this approach also focuses on the fair and equal distribution of good and service. The impact of our action is measured by the impartiality to those involved. Instead of focusing on the saving of the most life, this approach is focused in ensuring that the scarce flu vaccine is equably distributed. This approach minimizes discrimination and unfair allocation of the vaccine, and priority given to those who will come in direct contact or even spread the virus. According to the egalitarian approach, priority should be given on a first come, first serve basis. However those

Human beings have benefited from vaccines for more than two centuries, but the journey leading up to the discovery of vaccines was neither easy nor short. The story starts with Edward Jenner, a country doctor living in Berkeley, England (Stern and Howard, Paragraph. 6). Mentioned before, Jenner was a country doctor, which means that he helped treat and care for animals found amongst the countryside, like chickens, horses, and even cows. Because Jenner knew how to treat animals that were so much like humans in terms of anatomy and illness, he was able to apply some of his knowledge to create something that would be used for years to come. First, Jenner took pus from a cowpox lesion on a milkmaid’s hand and injected it into eight-year-old James