Pneumonia is defined as an infection that causes inflammation of the air sacs in one or both lungs, which can result in the air sacs filling with fluid or pus. It can be caused by a variety of organisms, including viruses, bacteria, and fungi. The common symptoms associated with pneumonia are a cough with phlegm, dyspnea, fatigue, fever, and chills (Mayoclinic, 2016). Pneumonia ranges from mild to severe, with young children, elderly, and immunocompromised people having the highest risk for infection. Pneumonia can be acquired in the community or hospital, and occurs when the infectious organism is inhaled and infects the lungs. Your body is usually able to prevent these infectious organisms from infecting your lungs, but sometimes these germs are able to overpower your body’s defense system and infect you. Treatment involves antibiotics to fight the infection, or other medication in effort of relieving symptoms (Mayoclinic, 2016).
Pneumonia is spread when the infectious organism is inhaled and infects the persons lungs. A controversial question is whether or not healthcare workers have a duty to care for infected patients even if it means putting themselves and their families at a higher-than-usual risk? For pneumonia, I believe that healthcare workers due in fact have a duty to care for infected patients. Healthcare workers are trained on how to appropriately care for a patient with pneumonia. Pneumonia requires for droplet precautions to be taken, as the infectious organism can be spread from coughing or sneezing. Droplet precautions require for the healthcare worker to wear gloves, a gown, a mask, and sometimes eye protection (Alberta Health Services, 2014). These precautions are taken in order to prevent the healthcare worker from being infected with pneumonia while caring for the patient.
Since healthcare workers know how to take the proper precautions when caring for a patient with pneumonia, they should have a duty to care for these patients. Healthcare workers are trained early on in their career on how to properly don and doff personal protective equipment (PPE). In becoming a healthcare worker, you know you are putting yourself and your family at an increased risk for infections. Healthcare workers understand this and should have the duty to care for patients with pneumonia, as they have been taught how to take droplet precautions when caring for someone.
If a patient has an infection that is much more serious than pneumonia, some controversy may rise on this topic. A healthcare worker should never be at risk of contracting an infection when caring for a patient. So if something is so serious that a healthcare worker cannot adequately protect themselves, they should not have to be put at risk for contracting an infection.
Here is a list of 3 policy recommendations for a healthcare workers duty to care for infected patients:
- Healthcare workers should undergo annual training on how to properly don and doff PPE for contact, droplet, and airborne precautions.
- Healthcare workers have the responsibility to care for patients as long as they are not at risk of contracting an infection.
- If a healthcare worker believes they are at risk of contracting an infection, they have the right to refuse providing care for that patient until the risk is corrected.
I believe this is a strong set of policy recommendations for a healthcare workers duty to care for infected patients. The annual training on PPE will assure that the healthcare workers are protecting themselves when caring for infected patients. Healthcare workers should have the responsibility to care for infected patients because these people require help. As long as the healthcare is not at risk of contracting an infection, their duty is to care for that patient. If the healthcare worker feels they are at a risk for infection, they have the right to refuse providing care for that patient. This is so that the healthcare workers will not be at risk for contracting an infection until the problem is corrected.
References
Alberta Health Services. (2014, February). Contact and Droplet Precautions. Retrieved April 9, 2017, from https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/ipc/hi-ipc-contact-and-droplet-precautions-info.pdf
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2016, June 21). Pneumonia. Retrieved April 09, 2017, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pneumonia/home/ovc-20204676
Matthew, thank you for sharing these thoughtful recommendations. While this is a controversial issue, the position you take is certainly consistent with some of the Nursing Association documents I have seen over the years, post SARS. Things do become tricky when faced with a new (potentially lethal, for example) virus like a novel flu virus that we might not know much about in the early days, leaving us with incomplete information about what counts as adequate protection (or alternatively natural disaster scenarios). But here too you can certainly make the kind of case you have done in your blog post.
For your interest, here is an article that outlines 3 reasons why some believe healthcare providers do have special obligations during infectious disease outbreaks: https://bmcmedethics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6939-7-5
It would also be interesting to know what members of the public think about the issue and whether they would agree that health professionals can refuse to provide care if they feel at risk – I don’t know whether this is something you came across in your research.