Ethics of Emergency Preparedness, Coursework Example

Introduction

Emergency preparedness within a given community requires an effective understanding of the challenges and considerations of evaluating available resources and how current processes or procedures take place. In some cases, traditions and other factors may be instrumental in shaping how these efforts occur; therefore, changing these procedures could serve as a shift in culture and process that would require significant modifications. In many ways, Hurricane Katrina paved the way for significant change in emergency preparedness strategies across many communities in the United States; however, preparedness remains a challenge in many cities. Nurses must play a critical role in supporting emergency preparedness strategies through expert knowledge and guidance in different areas.  It is important to recognize past lessons in an effort to shape future directions in emergency preparedness, using the role of nurses in a viable manner in order to achieve effective results for different population groups. Nurses must play an active role in emergency preparedness so that healthcare under these circumstances is not compromised in any way. The following discussion will address emergency preparedness in greater detail and will emphasize the importance of lessons learned from other disasters such as Hurricane Katrina that have had significant impacts on how disasters are managed in the United States.

Analysis

Emergency preparedness requires a strong level of detail and an understanding of the challenges of managing patients in such a way that nurses have a significant level of involvement to prevent widespread health-related gaps in coverage and treatment (Broz et.al, 2009). This process requires an ethically responsible approach to managing practice settings in emergencies to enable patients to have a comprehensive level of care and treatment at all times (Broz et.al, 2009).In a disaster situation, communication may be hampered and may contribute to a lack of focus for the team, as well as other limitations that could otherwise be prevented (Broz et.al, 2009). This is an important opportunity to utilize nurses’ skills and knowledge in situations that require a greater sense of calm for patients who have been injured in a disaster (Broz et.al, 2009).

With the Chicago response to Hurricane Katrina, it was known that “CDPH respondents commonly described a lack of private physicians, nurses, mental health professionals, and clerical support. No dentists, optometrists, nutritionists, or hearing aid specialists were available. Pediatricians were present during limited hours in the first week, and the demand for female clinicians was not met” (Broz et.al, 2009). These errors should not be made in future disasters, as staffing for nurses should be consistent and appropriate for the needs of locals and communication should also be timely and effective (Broz et.al, 2009).This will encourage the continued development of new perspectives to ensure that nurses are instrumental in treating patients in emergency situations without difficulty or hesitation regarding communication and staffing (Broz et.al, 2009).

Nursing ethical principles must also be considered in the context of probable outcomes in emergency situations. Nurses must maintain ethical responsibility at all times in these cases and develop new strategies that incorporate ethical principles to ensure that the lives of patients who face dangerous circumstances are well cared for at all times under these conditions (American Nurses Association, 2010). Nurses have a responsibility to protect patients under these circumstances and to be effective in providing the best possible quality of care and treatment (American Nurses Association, 2010). These factors present a challenge for organizations during disaster situations, particularly when resources are stretched thin and require further analysis prior to dissemination. As a result, nurses may be caught in the middle of a challenging ethical dilemma that may compromise their ethical principles. This is a negative circumstance that poses a risk to nurse integrity in these settings.

Nurses must be able to overcome the challenges and political battles associated with emergency disasters in order to prevent long-term ethical complications (Mason et.al, 2012). During transitional periods such as disasters, nurses must exercise ethical responsibility as best as possible in order to prevent complications and other factors from taking place that could compromise patient care (Mason et.al, 2012). These factors demonstrate the importance of new perspectives by nurses to achieve ethically responsible frameworks in all areas of patient care and treatment, especially in disaster situations (Guido, 2014). These factors, if not taken seriously, may pose legal risks to the nursing profession and to individual nurses if the events that have taken place are not shown to be ethically responsible (Guido, 2014). It is imperative that nurses strive to be effective communicators in these situations and that they work collaboratively to ensure that their most critical patients are not ignored or treated without the utmost professionalism and available resources.

Conclusion

Nurses working in emergency situations must possess the ability to access all possible resources and to recognize the importance of their contributions to patient care and treatment that will have a positive impact on patient outcomes. These factors will demonstrate a need for additional oversight in emergency situations and improved communication across all channels so that individuals are not faced with poor care and treatment, in spite of the circumstances. These factors are critical because they convey the importance of new strategies to improve patient care in emergency situations and to promote ethically responsible emergency preparedness strategies at all times.

References

American Nurses Association (2010). The nurse’s role in ethics and human rights: Protecting and promoting individual worth, dignity, and human rights in practice settings. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/Policy-Advocacy/Positions-and-Resolutions/ANAPositionStatements/Position-Statements-Alphabetically/Nursess-Role-in-Ethics-and-Human-Rights.pdf

Broz, D., Levin, E. C., Mucha, A. P., Pelzel, D., Wong, W., Persky, V. W., & Hershow, R. C. (2009). Lessons learned from Chicago’s emergency response to mass evacuations caused by Hurricane Katrina. American journal of public health, 99(8), 1496.

Guido, G.W. (2014). Legal and ethical issues in nursing, 6^th Edition. Prentice Hall.

Mason, D.J., Leavitt, J.K., and Chaffee, M.W. (2012). Policy & Politics in Nursing & Health Care, 6^th Edition. Saunders.