NURS 561: Nursing Assignment on AIDS, Ethics, and Stressors

This nursing assignment addresses several key aspects of healthcare and nursing practice. It begins by analyzing the factors that inhibited the early fight against AIDS, drawing from the film "And the Band Played On," and discussing the epidemic's nature, government involvement, and the role of advocacy. The assignment then explores the influence of occupation and culture on psychosocial stressors experienced by middle-aged adults, relating these concepts to the nursing profession. A clinical situation involving moral distress, specifically regarding euthanasia, is examined using the AACN's Four A's framework for resolution. Finally, the assignment discusses the ethical implications of social media use in nursing, including violations of patient confidentiality and dignity, while also highlighting the benefits of ethical social media practices for healthcare professionals and their patients. The assignment draws on relevant research and literature to support its arguments.

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Authors note:

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Question 1:
The movie and the band played on, discuss the origin of Aids and epidemic nature of the
disease with the assistance of the Ebola virus. Considering the plot of the movie, the existence of
factors such as reluctance of government towards mitigation of the disease (Darrow, 2017).
While government initiatives could not control AIDS it could reduce the high prevalence and
chances of transmission. Social stigma around homosexuality and war between doctor and
scientist were also contributing factors behind the inhibition of the disease (Gong, Xu & Han,
2017).
The outbreak could have been stopped with proper funding from the government and
involvement of government, politicians and blood banks (Worobey et al., 2016). The grant
money the CDC promised ever arrived which cost thousands of deaths. The
collaboration between doctors and scientists could prevent the epidemic nature of the disease.
Advocacy played a crucial role in this movie to discover the epidemic nature of the
movie. American epidemiologist Don Francis aimed to conduct an in-depth investigation of the
possible cause of the disease and in his journey of investigation, numerous members of the
medical c community and gay activist joined such as bill Kraus. In the recent era, due to the
deadly nature of the disease, HIV/AIDS receive publicity for proper control of the disease.
While e Centers for Disease Control and Prevention able to control the high prevalence, the
transmission is still a common story (Massimo & Naidu, 2015). In the 21st century, the
prevalence of the disease is still persistent as 1.1 million individuals at the end of 2016
was affected by HIV and 14% of them are unaware of it (Kwan et al. 2016). Effective treatment
of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs such as delavirdine can prevent the prognosis in an early stage.

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Question 2:
Occupation and culture greatly influence psychosocial stressors middle-aged adults
subjected to. Highly satisfactory occupations or occupation with high wage influence
psychological stressors such as able to reduce hostility and depression, hopelessness. On
the other hand, the low wage job or unsatisfactory job more like to influence psychosocial
stressor in a negative way and middle-aged adults more frequently experience hostility,
depression, low self-esteem, and low confidence (Freimann & Merisalu, 2015). On the other
hand, culture also has an influence on psychosocial stressors that affect the middle-aged man.
For example, individuals belong to aboriginal culture more like to experience negative attitude
from others, stigma, aggression and tend to have low self-esteem (Jetha, Kernan & Kurowski,
2017).
Being in the occupation of nursing, it positively influences psychological stressor as
nurses have the opportunity to gather in-depth evidence-based knowledge and serve the needy
people. Consequently, nurses have high self-esteem, low anxiety, and depression.
Question 3:
One such clinical situation where nurses experience moral distress is requested for
euthanasia. The nurses experience moral distress while caring for patients who are terminally ill.
While saving treatment family members insist on life-extending aggressive
treatment, euthanasia is the best interest of patients and professional. In order to resolve this
issue, AACN four As can be used which stands for Ask Affirm Assess Act. Considering first
A, it is crucial to ask oneself and become aware of the moral distress present in this case (Butts
& Rich, 2013). Considering the second A, it is crucial to affirm the distress through validation
of perception and feeling of others and commit to addressing moral distress. Considering the

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third A, it is crucial to assess the source of the moral distress, in this case, professional ethics and
environment and risk and benefit of moral distress (Butts & Rich, 2013). Considering the fourth
A, taking crucial action is required to take to reduce moral distress (Butts & Rich, 2013). In this
case, the nurse is required to consider the request of the patient and the power of attorney of the
patient.
Question 4:
Social media can violate nursing ethics such as dignity and confidentiality of the
patients. For example, if a nurse shares personal information of the patients with colleagues then
the nurse can violate nursing ethics by breaching the confidentiality and privacy of the patients
(Smith & Knudson, 2016). On the other hand, a personal picture of the patient in social media
not only violate the confidentiality of the patient but also the dignity of the patients.
Ethical social media can be beneficial to health care professionals and their patients for
sharing the new treatment of any chronic disease. The professionals can share any new treatment
of the disease, any epidemic outbreak or statistics and able to reach to the patients (Johnstone,
2016). On the other hand, patients can reach to the doctors regarding their concerns regarding
the disease.

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References:
Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2013). Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing practice.
Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Darrow, W. W. (2017). And the Band Played on: Before and After. AIDS and Behavior, 21(10),
2799-2806.
Freimann, T., & Merisalu, E. (2015). Work-related psychosocial risk factors and mental health
problems amongst nurses at a university hospital in Estonia: a cross-sectional
study. Scandinavian journal of public health, 43(5), 447-452.
Gong, Z., Xu, X., & Han, G. Z. (2017). ‘Patient 0’and the Origin of HIV/AIDS in
America. Trends in microbiology, 25(1), 3-4.
Jetha, A., Kernan, L., & Kurowski, A. (2017). Conceptualizing the dynamics of workplace
stress: a systems-based study of nursing aides. BMC health services research, 17(1), 12.
Johnstone, M. J. (2016). Privacy, professionalism and social media. Australian Nursing and
Midwifery Journal, 23(7), 23.
Kwan, C. K., Rose, C. E., Brooks, J. T., Marks, G., & Sionean, C. (2016). HIV testing among
men at risk for acquiring HIV infection before and after the 2006 CDC
recommendations. Public Health Reports, 131(2), 311-319.
Massimo, C., & Naidu, K. (2015). HIV/AIDS and the Oral Manifestations Associated with the
Disease. Occupational Medicine and Health Affairs, 3, e108.
Smith, G. C., & Knudson, T. K. (2016). Student nurses’ unethical behavior, social media, and
year of birth. Nursing ethics, 23(8), 910-918.

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Worobey, M., Watts, T.D., McKay, R.A., Suchard, M.A., Granade, T., Teuwen, D.E., Koblin,
B.A., Heneine, W., Lemey, P. and Jaffe, H.W., (2016). 1970s and ‘Patient 0’HIV-1
genomes illuminate early HIV/AIDS history in North America. Nature, 539(7627), p.98.