Health Medical Homework Help

There have been many changes over the past year in healthcare in regards to the recent pandemic, COVID-19. Answer the following questions:

1. How has COVID-19 affected you? Please identify how the pandemic has affected you professionally and academically. 

2. What ethical dilemmas have been encountered in the nursing profession in relation to COVID-19? Defend your stance on the solution to one dilemma.

3. How do you think this pandemic will affect healthcare in the future?

Peer 1:

How has COVID-19 affected you? Please identify how the pandemic has affected you professionally and academically. COVID-19 has affected everyone in at least one way or another. Whether this be online classes, working from home instead of being in the office, not seeing family and friends as often, or even just the little changes in our daily lives such as wearing a mask. All these factors related to COVID-19 have affected everyone. The pandemic has affected me academically by losing out on 6 weeks of clinicals as well as, having to learn completely online for one semester. I personally struggle with learning online, so it was a difficult transition, especially when everyone was home and trying to find a time to study when it was quiet. Professionally, the pandemic has changed the way we care for and interact with our patients and their family members. If the patient is COVID positive or suspected to be positive, they are put in isolation, and we are not able to interact with them how we normally would. Especially during the peak of COVID, many patients were completely alone for days to weeks.What ethical dilemmas have been encountered in the nursing profession in relation to COVID-19? Defend your stance on the solution to one dilemma.An ethical dilemma that has been encountered in the nursing profession related to COVID-19 is the lack of PPE. Especially in the beginning of the pandemic, many hospitals did not have the necessary PPE to protect their staff. An article written by Morley et al., states, “nurses’ concerns about PPE may arise not just because of concerns for personal safety but also because of concerns about transmitting Covid?19 to loved ones” (2020, para. 7). A lack of PPE during a time when there was a lack of understanding regarding the virus puts nurses and other healthcare workers at an increased risk. Not only are they at an increased risk, but their family members and other loved ones have the potential to be at risk as well. To me, it is unacceptable that nurses had to risk their own safety because there was not appropriate equipment at the facility to protect them.How do you think this pandemic will affect healthcare in the future?One way that this pandemic has affected healthcare for the future is the increased implementation of telemedicine. I think that some doctors’ visits or other healthcare visits will start to take place online rather than an in person visit. In addition, I think that many healthcare facilities will face workforce shortages. “Many nurses and physicians are experiencing heightened levels of burnout due to the COVID-19 experience and many of them are expected to retire early or look for alternative work settings after all this is over” (Grays,2020, para. 10). The stress of the pandemic as well as unsafe ratios has resulted in many nurses becoming burnout and no longer wanting to work in the conditions. 

Peer2:

COVID-19 has affected the entire world in many ways that people in 100 years would not understand. Personally, COVID-19 has affected me and my family significantly. My grandmother has been battling cancer for a few years and my family and I made it a priority to go see her twice a week at my uncles, however, that privilege was taken away to prevent her from contracting COVID-19 due to her weakened immune system. Academically, When COVID-19 has taken away my clinical experience and learning. Due to COVID-19, I was not able to attend a proper fundamentals rotation. Also, I study better on campus or public libraries but due to COVID-19, I wasn’t able to focus on my classes. I remember struggling during that semester which consisted of very complex courses: funds, pharm, and patho. There have been many ethical dilemmas that have occured during the outbreak of COVID-19 in hospital settings. I worked as a PCT during COVID-19 and things changed quickly. As a healthcare worker, I noticed many things that the nursing staff has struggled with. PPE shortages were the largest concern for all staff. According to Morley, healthcare workers would “work under conditions that pose substantial risks to their overall health and well?being due to limited access to PPE”.(2020). Not being able to protect ourselves from the transmission of COVID-19 was frustrating. We had to use the same N-95 mask for multiple shifts, disinfecting wipes were limited for our use, and the possibility of us contracting and transmitting the virus has been increasing.  The COVID-19 pandemic has outlined many weaknesses in the healthcare system. Many facilities showed a large amount of weakness towards staff safety, inadequate equipment, limitation to PPE, and staff shortages. I believe in the future, facilities will acquire better safety plans for future incidences of pandemics. They will facilitate and prepare ways to be ready for a large surge of ill people. Also, I believe TeleHealth will grow larger in the upcoming years. TeleHealth reduces the number of sick patients from coming into healthcare settings and reducing the incidence of transmitting viruses. According to Schumann, Patients like the convenience and for many conditions, it’s an effective alternative to an in-person visit which can provide infection control.(2021).