Nurses' roles are more critical at this time than ever before. They're the ones conducting screenings, caring for the critically ill, enforcing triage procedures, communicating with relatives, and caring for the dying ( Fernandez et al., 2020) . We are being asked to work in areas of the fields where we were not working before. We are offering telehealth consultations and offering advice to individual patients on the administration of vaccines. Health centers have had to relocate their resources, and nurses are at the forefront of innovating and guiding through the crisis.
Nurses have had to broaden their ethical horizons to fully incorporate a public health system that maximizes the good for more people while minimizing the damage, ensuring that the people who are most likely to profit from scarce resources get them (Johns Hopkins University, 2020). We have been forced to accept and administer a vaccine that most people believe is not safe. Nurses feel as if they are neglecting their patients as a result of this transition ( Xiong & Peng, 2020) . They are unable to have the standard of treatment that they have become used to. The disconnect between what they can do and what they think they should do causes moral distress and a sense of betrayal.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The nurses are obligated to explain to the patients that they are helping them with the available resources (Johns Hopkins University, 2020). For instance, we explain to the patients the benefits and risks of taking the vaccine and decide whether the risks outweigh the benefits or vice versa, and settle whether or not to take the vaccine. We must also think about how we can help more people. This sometimes entails discharging patients who would otherwise be hospitalized to make way for sicker patients.
I am obligated to ensure that I keep myself and my family safe from the virus. I am careful as I take care of the patients and ensure I have the PTTEs before attending to any patient. As a nurse am obligated to avoid causing harm to my family from the risk of contracting the virus while at work; thus, I ensure I follow the set health guidelines for the healthcare personnel. In connection to that am open to taking the vaccine in a bid to protect my family and me from the deadly virus.
I will explain the vaccine's risks and benefits to the patients and decide whether to take the jab. I will follow the set health guidelines such as putting on PTTEs and taking the vaccine to ensure I do not spread the vaccine at my workplace and home.
Post 1
The first post shows the nurse's dilemma on whether to take the vaccine and which of the vaccines is safe. I agree that the dilemma in the healthcare system has caused complexities for the nurses. I agree with the post that nurses should be allowed to decide whether to take the vaccine or not, unlike how the system is making it mandatory for the healthcare providers to take the vaccine. My view that the pandemic pressures have led to the nurses reducing the standard of healthcare services they render to the patients resonates with the thoughts in the first post that nurses cannot advise patients accordingly, especially on the vaccines.
Post 2
The second nurse believes that it is important that people have free will at deciding whether to take the vaccine or not and thus has decided neither he nor his family will take the vaccine. He is afraid of the incapability and the risks that the vaccine will have on him and his family since he had already contracted the virus while taking care of a patient, although he was in PPEs. I understand his fears because of the negative side effects that have been reported by people who have had the vaccine. The nurse also holds the same sentiments as mine that it is important to advise the patients about the vaccines and let them decide on themselves whether to take them or not.
References
Fernandez, R., Lord, H., Halcomb, E., Moxham, L., Middleton, R., Alananzeh, I., & Ellwood, L. (2020). Implications for COVID-19: a systematic review of nurses’ experiences of working in acute care hospital settings during a respiratory pandemic. International Journal of Nursing Studies , 103637.
Johns Hopkins University. (2020, April 07). Nurses face 'unprecedented challenges' During covid-19. Retrieved April 09, 2021, from https://www.futurity.org/nurses-covid-19-2329212-2/
Xiong, Y., & Peng, L. (2020). Focusing on health-care providers' experiences in the COVID-19 crisis. The Lancet Global Health , 8 (6), e740-e741.
