In the case study, Dr Kerr is faced with an ethical dilemma because Jenna and Chris Smith, parents of 5-day-old baby Ana, refuse to vaccinate their child. The Smiths strongly believe that vaccination can cause a lot of harm to their baby, and they refuse to vaccinate Ana despite Dr Kerr’s opinion. Dr Kerr goes over all benefits of the vaccination. She mentions that vaccination can protect not only Ana from deadly diseases but also it can protect the whole community. She brings up the measles outbreak as an example of how vaccination is important for our population. The Smith family listens to Dr Kerr, but at the end of the conversation, they still refuse to vaccinate Ana. Dr Kerr is concerned about their strong opinion against vaccination because she knows if even one child is not vaccinated, it is dangerous for the general population, especially for people with poor immunity.
Moral awareness, moral judgment, and ethical behavior are three components of the ethical decision-making model. This model can be used to understand and resolve an ethical dilemma from the case study. Moral awareness is a recognition that an ethical problem exists. Such recognition requires being aware of how our behavior impacts others, identifying possible courses of action, and determining the consequences of each potential strategy. After determining there is an ethical problem, moral judgment can be used to evaluate choices and outcomes. Finally, ethical behavior, the last component of the decision-making model, means taking the right action to resolve the problem. In the case study, Dr Kerr is aware of the existing problem, and she understands the consequences of not vaccinating Ana. Her moral judgment is reflected in trying to convince Ana’s parents to vaccinate their daughter by explaining all benefits of vaccination not only for Ana but also for the whole community. Dr Kerr also states that according to VAERS, no vaccine has been proven casual for autism spectrum disorder. Moreover, she goes over the consequences of not vaccinating Ana. After evaluating possible solutions and their consequences, Dr Kerr decides to act using her ethical behavior. After having chosen an intended action, Dr Kerr must consider her final behavior and what has the potential to influence her action. Dr Kerr’s action depends on four principles of health care ethics and her personal judgment as a health care worker.
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