week 8

docx

School

Chamberlain College of Nursing *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

NR503

Subject

Health Science

Date

Oct 30, 2023

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by stefaniann03

The Pennsylvania Senate bill number 351 sponsored by Senator J. Ward was enacted to add healthcare staff to a previously passed bill title 18. The initial bill was created to protect officers and agents from purposeful physical harm. Any individual who intentionally attempts to cause or does cause serious bodily injury would be charged with aggravated assault. In 2019, a bill was passed to add health care professionals to this law. This bill advocates for health care staff who are often threatened and physically harmed. For medical staff to do their job they need to be free from fear of getting assaulted which this bill advocates for. Fear of potential assault can prevent the medical staff from adequately caring for people in need which would then negatively impact the health of the population. Individuals would potentially not be given the information needed to prevent, treat, or delay progression of diseases. They also would be at risk for not being treated in general which would cause worsening sickness. It is important for medical professionals to feel safe to care for the population to the best of their ability. One population health issue is drug and/or alcohol addiction. Many times, when individuals are under the influence, they are aggressive with out knowing. Not having a law protecting healthcare workers from assault could cause the health care worker to become more hesitant to care for this population. Alcohol abuse patients need extra care and education. It is important that we do not discriminate against this population because they are at a higher risk for developing somatic diseases which often cause death. Monitoring the health of these individuals is critical to the health outcomes of these patients. According to one study about alcohol dependence and disease the researchers found that individuals with alcohol dependence had a significantly higher risk of all disease groups and most subgroups (Holst, C et al., 2017). It is the ethical duty of all nurses to take care of our patients and to care for all people fairly without discrimination or causing harm. Having a law to protect nurses helps to reduce the fear of assault which will give us the ability to properly care for all individuals. References Center, L. D. (2019). Bill Information - Senate Bill 351; Regular Session 2019-2020. Retrieved from https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?sYear=2019&sInd=0&body=S& type=B&bn=351 Holst, C., Tolstrup, S. J., Sorensen, J. & Becker, U. (2017). Alcohol dependence and risk of somatic diseases and mortality: a cohort study in 19002 men and women attending alcohol treatment. Society for the Study of Addiction 112, 1358-1366. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13799

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