To Prepare
Review the scenarios provided by your instructor for this week’s Assignment. Please see the “Course Announcements” section of the classroom for your scenarios.
• Based on the scenarios provided:
o Select one scenario, and reflect on the material presented throughout this course.
o What necessary information would need to be obtained about the patient through health assessments and diagnostic tests?
o Consider how you would respond as an advanced practice nurse. Review evidence-based practice guidelines and ethical considerations applicable to the scenarios you selected.
The Lab Assignment
Write a detailed one-page narrative (not a formal paper) explaining the health assessment information required for a diagnosis of your selected patient (include the scenario number). Explain how you would respond to the scenario as an advanced practice nurse using evidence-based practice guidelines and applying ethical considerations. Justify your response using at least three different references from current evidence-based literature.
The Scenario
The parents of a 5-year-old boy have accompanied their son for his required physical examination before starting kindergarten. His parents are opposed to him receiving any vaccines.
Ethical Concerns
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course
Instructor’s Name
Date
Ethical Concerns
Several ethical issues are put into consideration while dealing with patients. Some of them include beneficence and patient autonomy. In the presented scenario (number one), a 5-year-old boy is accompanied by his parents to the hospital for a physical examination before joining kindergarten. Additionally, the parents do not want the boy to be a subject of any kind of vaccine. Further information may be required to help in the diagnosis of the selected patient (Rickert, 2019). For example, information related to previous medical history and previous history of vaccination would be helpful. It would provide insight regarding any underlying illnesses the patient might be having. Additionally, it would tell whether or not the patient received all the recommended vaccines (Yeh, 2022). The parents’ religious beliefs, cultural beliefs, and family values will be assessed to determine whether they contribute to the parent’s decision not to vaccinate the boy.
As an advanced practice nurse, it would be important to use the information gathered to properly address the situation. It is necessary to perform a physical examination and advise the parents based on the results. Patient and family education would be the most appropriate way to address the issue (Yeh, 2022). The parents need to be educated on the importance of vaccination to children, especially those joining pre-school for the first time. This intervention is in tandem with the principles of beneficence, non-maleficence (Savulescu et al., 2021). Vaccination is beneficial to the boy because it will protect him from preventable illnesses and premature death, which he is exposed to while interacting with other children. Vaccines are harmless to the patient, hence the principles of non-maleficence (Savulescu et al., 2021). Educating the patient helps in ensuring respect of patient autonomy because after gaining full knowledge about vaccination, the parents will make decisions without any external interference. They might change their mind after gaining knowledge about vaccination.
References
Rickert, J. (2019). On Patient Safety: The Importance of Vaccinations—Avoiding the Mistakes of the Past. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 477(1), 28-30. https://doi.org/10.1097/CORR.0000000000000585
Savulescu, J., Giubilini, A., & Danchin, M. (2021). Global ethical considerations regarding mandatory vaccination in children. The Journal of Pediatrics, 231, 10-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.01.021
Yeh, M. J. (2022). Solidarity in Pandemics, Mandatory Vaccination, and Public Health Ethics. American Journal of Public Health, 112(2), 255-261. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306578