Level Title: Introduction
Being a health practitioner is one of the most interesting careers one can ever hope to be involved. In the line of duty, one can be confronted with exciting scenarios, some of which are so challenging. Drawing a line between when to act and when not to act makes it even more difficult. As a nurse, you may be confronted with an issue that requires your urgent attention. On Other occasions, one feels like intervening in a health situation even though out of duty. This happens as a result of ones moral judgment and the drive to give a helping hand in the area of competence.
On one occasion, there was an outbreak of measles among the children in the community I am based. Children were adversely affected by this epidemic. There was no quick response from the respective authorities. They needed to be vaccinated as first as possible before the situation could get out of hand. I took an own initiative, went to my workstation and picked some vaccines and gave to the children. When I vaccinated the children, the situation was contained to some extent. I was forced to act because I was well aware of the vaccine to be administered. Through this I managed to help the situation only, but to some extent.
Level Title: Do not vaccinate
The situation needed a sober approach in trying to deal with the issue. Moral and value issues must have risen in such like situation. It was very important for the children to be vaccinated as quickly as possible. The authorities took long to respond and even though they would have responded, the issue was soon going to be an epidemic. It was important to save the situation before it got out a hand. The plight of children at this stage was really fascinating.
Beneficence
The underlying meaning behind this principle is initiating an action aimed and assisting other people (Masters, 2014). There are so many scenarios where one can initiate an action in order to help other people. The kind of situation, I was involved in fits the definition. The vaccination was administered to the children to avoid any unfortunate situations that could have come up. It was against this background that the action was taken for the purpose of saving the day and giving the children a fresh lease of life.
Level Title: Conclusion
Under normal circumstances, children should be vaccinated against the measles at birth or as appropriate. In the event that there is an outbreak, the children need to be vaccinated in totality to avoid further before the situation turns into an epidemic. In reality, the parents should consent to the administration of the drug. Moreover, the authorities are the only people allowed to respond to such situations while trying to identify the cause.
I did not act according to the professional code of conduct. The best thing would have been to quickly inform the authorities in order to prompt an action. It is important to work within the standards of practice , because then one is able to have a clear guideline on what is to be done. Consequently, it is necessary to consult widely before instituting any action. My actions could easily have me struck off my professional competence. Even though it was the right thing to do in terms of administering vaccinations, I was just but driven by passion and not reason (American Nurses Association, 2010).
References:
American Nurses Association. (2010). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice. Silver Spring,
Md: American Nurses Association.
Masters, K. (2014). Role development in professional nursing practice. Burlington, MA: Jones &
Bartlett Learning.
