Nursing Assignment: Healthcare Right or Privilege, Coursework Report

This nursing assignment report delves into the contentious debate surrounding healthcare, exploring whether it should be considered a fundamental right or a privilege. The author takes a firm stance, arguing that healthcare should be viewed as a basic human right, supported by references to the World Health Organization's 1946 declaration and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The report examines the ethical and societal implications of healthcare access, arguing that governments should be obligated to ensure healthcare for all citizens, regardless of their socioeconomic status or background. The report also analyzes the viewpoints of a team member, providing a scholarly critique of their arguments. The assignment utilizes scholarly sources to support its claims, providing a comprehensive analysis of the healthcare debate and its implications for nursing practice and healthcare policy.

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Taking position on the topic
Health care debates have always associated with discussion that health care should be
considered as a basic right or should be considered as a privilege and while choosing a side, there
are multiple aspects should be considered (O’Rourke, 2017). However, if the greater good and
larger picture is considered, health care should be considered as the basic human rights. This
discussion would be developed and would unfold the aspects that would support this choice for
this debate.
In the 1946, the World Health Organisation mentioned in their report that it is the basic
and fundamental human right of the patients so that they could attain the higher standards of
health care and these processes they could be provided irrespective of their race, political belief,
economic and social conditions and the religion of the person (Bauchner, 2017). This statement
mentioned that providing health care to people is not a privilege but everyone’s right which
should be made availing to everyone. As per the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights in
the year 1948, health care rights were included in the basic human rights around the world,
whereas in 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights mentioned that
it is their progressive realization that health is right of every individual living in this planet
(Breathett, 2018). For this the board mentioned that to make it available for every individual, it is
the right of the state and national governments so that they could develop subsequent human
resources for this right of every individual. Hence, while developing health care means and
improving the quality of the health care process, governments should not think that they are
providing their population with any privilege and states should feel obligated so that they could
help the patients to avail their basic human rights. Besides this, as per Krasnoff (2018) it was

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also identified that aspects which could affect the health of any individual such as safe drinking
water, health care and hospitals, sanitation and food and housing processes should also be
provided to the patients so that the right of health care could be analysed effectively. Hence, as
per an American, health is the right of every individual, irrespective of the fact that he or she is
covered under the Affordable Care Act or not (Arije, 2016). Hence, from this above-mentioned
discussion, it is mentioned that health care is the right and not a privilege.
Commenting on team members position
The discussion starts with a question that whom should we make responsible for our
effective health and wellbeing and who would be responsible for our health coverage and to pay
the bills associated with it. Ethically, it is the most effective way to understand that health is right
or privilege and the discussion should not be considered as a political issue. This paper mentions
that American government has provided multiple rights to the population such as for education,
fire protection, and protection from military however the government is penalizing people if they
are not covered under the Affordable Care Act and hence it is thought that health care is a
privilege. Hence, the paper is successful in identifying the process that health care is overrated
for the American government (Breathett, 2018). This discussion was able to understand that the
aim of the government is to make the population responsible for its health care rights. This
discussion mentions all the effective means that helps to understand that health care is a right and
not a privilege and every aspect should be identified in the care process so that they could be
used in the entire care process. However, while developing and establishing this process, the
paper was unable to provide any established statement by the human rights assembly or the
World Health Organisation so that the discussion statements could be supported and backed by a
string process so that patients could be provided by effective abilities (Krasnoff, 2018). Hence,

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this could be mentioned as the processes that should be analysed and included while developing
and discussing the process so that a string and appropriate process could be conducted and a
proper aspects could be analysed in this paper. Hence, through the application of the statements
the debate could be managed and included in the discussion (Arije, 2016). Therefore, the debate
by the team mate is appropriate as this discussion highlights all the important and relevant
aspects of the health care and hence, this should be analysed and included in the paper.

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References
Arije, O. O. (2016). Quality in primary health care services in sub-Sahara Africa: right or
privilege?. Journal of Community Medicine and Primary Health Care, 28(1), 25-30.
Bauchner, H. (2017). Health care in the united states: a right or a privilege. Jama, 317(1), 29-29.
Breathett, K. (2018). Health Status Equity: A Right Not a Privilege. JACC. Heart failure, 6(6),
474-475.
Krasnoff, M. (2018). Health as a Right versus a Privilege in the United States, the United
Kingdom, and Japan: What is an Ideal Health Insurance System?.
O’Rourke, T. W. (2017). Lost in the Health Care Reform Discussion: Health Care as a Right or
Privilege. American Journal of Health Education, 48(3), 138-141.