The Ebola: Aspects of Health Policies, ANA's Code of Ethics for Nurses

Ebola
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Ebola
Question: #1
Being a highly contagious and infectious disease, Ebola virus disease (EVD) calls for a thoughtful application of ethical principles in a fresh environment. The very nature of the disease has resulted in a number of ethical principles which may vary depending on one organization to another (Indiana University Health, 2014). However, there are some common principles which are applicable when dealing with cases of Ebola all of which are drawn from the traditional clinical ethical principles of distributive justice, beneficence, nonmaleficence and precautionary wisdom.
Ebola presents a huge challenge for the public health system specifically due to the risk the risk of transmission to healthcare worker and by extension the chances of further infections among the public. In essence, the disease increases the tension between the health wellbeing of patients with that of the healthcare workers (Indiana University Health, 2014). In this context, four major principles may be identified in relation to Ebola. The first is the duty to manage or contain the spread of the disease through all means available. The second ethical principle is the duty to protect healthcare professionals in a bid to contain the spread of the Ebola virus. The third principle protecting the health of healthcare professionals and these may be emphasized at the expense of the health wellbeing of the patient in order to sustain healthcare resources including workers. The final principle holds that ethical standards may change based on new information relating to risks or successes of some particular intervention measures (Indiana University Health, 2014).
As is evident, these principles may be conflicting in nature and their application in one particular situation may differ with another situation. For example, one particular situation may not pose a real threat to the health care provider while in another, the healthcare provider may be forced to abstain from seeing a patient for the purpose of his or her own health wellbeing or to prevent further spread of the disease. It can however be noted that the principles are tied to the traditional clinical ethical principles.
Question: #2
The ethical principles applied when it comes to the Ebola virus disease has created same population disparity mainly owing to its nature of transmission and the relative risks it poses to the public as well as the health care workers. While the disease may affect all types of people, some populations, especially from West Africa are more vulnerable to the disease outbreak as compared with other populations. The first ethical principle imposes a duty to protect further transmission of the disease (Institute of Medicine (US) Forum on Microbial Threats, 2007). This implies that any suspected case of Ebola must be treated in isolation which by extension requires locking the patient away from the contact of the public sphere.
The second and third principles are aimed at protecting the health care workers while at the same time preventing continued spread of the disease. This implies that health care workers have to wear protective health gear while handling patients with suspected cases of Ebola. It also ...