The Smiths, Chris Smith, and Jenna Smith are the subject of the case that is under study. They have a five-year-old daughter Ana. Ana was born without any problems or complications (Capella University, n.d.). The parents have had an excellent bond with the baby and they wish to raise her naturally with organic materials and nurse her in the initial six months. They also create food for the baby with pure organic ingredients and have refused any vaccinations for the baby. Parents are college-educated and have carried out enough research on vaccines to be able to conclude that the risks outweigh the benefits.
They tell their pediatrician, Dr. Angela Kerr, that despite the recommendations from the medical community to vaccinate Ana they have refused to do so (Capella University, n.d.). Dr. Angela Kerr is confused about what to do after she has an empathetic conversation on how vaccines have sparked controversy, she goes on to endorse the general safety of vaccines explaining how the data is updated regularly and that there are systems that are transparent about vaccine safety. She also explains how no vaccine has been proven to cause Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Capella University, n.d.).
Ana’s parents not willing to vaccinate her is an ethical issue as this can increase the chances of Ana getting a vaccine-preventable disease that could be fatal and also impact her herd immunity. There are both demographic and psychological factors that cause vaccine hesitancy. These factors could be related to the trust in science, social norms, and beliefs or attitudes toward vaccination (Damnjanović et al., 2018).
The Code of Ethics by the American Nurse Association has published four important principles of ethics that are beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy (Gaines, 2022). While dealing with the Smith family case, Dr. Angela Kerr has to respect the autonomy of the parents when deciding that their child should be vaccinated after carrying out research. However, the major issue with autonomy can be a misunderstanding or inappropriate information which may cause a hindrance to autonomy (Rus & Groselj, 2021). The other principle of nonmaleficence requires the provider to not cause any harm to the patient, the ethical issue can be the harm that can be caused to the patient by not providing a vaccine after respecting the autonomy.
The issue can also be the side effects of the vaccine that have the potential to be there in case the parents agree for Ana to be vaccinated. The other issue is with the beneficence that recommends the provider to work towards the welfare of the patient which is in their best interest (Rus & Groselj, 2021). The provider would have to keep in mind herd immunity and establish a relationship with the parents to take positive steps for the welfare of the patients. The element of justice also plays a role as the control of infectious diseases through vaccination is a common good that provides distributive justice (Rus & Groselj, 2021). Dr. Kerr is concerned about the health of the baby due to the attitude of the parents who believe vaccination can cause harm because not vaccinating the baby can cause even more harm
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