The title of this journal is The Pandemic Claims New Victims: Prestigious Medical Journals. The title is explicit and explains that there are medical journals that have been retracted from the public domain. The articles were considered to be containing information that was misguiding the public. Tremendous blame has been laid on the peer reviewers for not identifying these flaws and correcting the articles. It is the job of the peer reviewers to ensure that the information found in the journals is verified and reliable. The author of this article is Robin Caryn Rabin, a staff writer at The New York Times. Caryn has worked in the media industry for so many years and has specialized in Health media for over fifteen years. She has written many other peer-reviewed articles and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in her field. The source of her information is from primary sources such as interviews with professionals and peer-reviewed literature. The New York Times is also a reputable media company with reliable and verifiable information.
The article by Caryn takes us through the challenge that took place in the medical field during the Corona Pandemic. Two peer-reviewed articles from two highly respected Medical journals had been retracted from the public domain due to contracting information. This article discusses the damage this retraction had on the medical fraternity involved and the explanation for the error. The medical professionals interviewed in the article do not blame the peer reviewers but on the change of activities brought forth by the pandemic. Life is not as it was, and people have to work through shifts to cater to the needs of the virus patients. Therefore, the reviewers would not put much blame on them if they gave passages to two journals with controversial information.
The article by Caryn Rabin is relevant to the class material as it explains in detail why the scientific process and science literacy are essential. Throughout the research process, information should be clear, and the scientists should ensure that whatever is presented as research work has been thoroughly scrutinized and verified. The scientific method is thus fundamental, and no step of the scientific process can be skipped or left out. The article also proves that a scientific theory can be refuted if the findings and the report are not conclusive. Therefore, scientists should ensure that the research work has been worked perfectly and that consultation with fellow scientists is done to avoid such mistakes as that of the two retracted journals.
For any scientific work to be considered quality, it must provide a new and verifiable valuable idea to the scientists’ world and the public. The scientific process is well followed and should help to ensure the quality of science in any scientific work. The article seems that the research journals were written in a hurry, and some major mistakes were not rectified. The peer reviewers have to ensure that any scientific research or claim meets the scientific quality required. If one study suggested that a given blood pressure drug was safe for coronavirus patients and another warned against anti-malarial drugs endorsed by then-President Trump, there was a big problem. The scientists had not done their proper research before writing the journals and the peer reviewers overlooked huge errors found in the journals. Therefore, scientists should be thorough in the scientific process and ensure that the work presented to the public is standard and reliable.
I want to take this opportunity to offer general information about ACA (Affordable Care Act), its framework, and its benefits to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). The first COVID-19 wave damaged sNFs because of the high number of patients over 65 and patients that have comorbidities. During the pandemic, it was crucial to quickly adapt to the new situation, find new funding, and use it effectively.
The scale of the impact on SNFs is outsized due to the specific environmental conditions and long-term care patients’ vulnerability. SNFs needed and got additional funding from the Provider Relief Fund and American Rescue Plan (ARP). In the situation of uncertainty and lack of understanding of the long-term effects on nursing homes, the staff must be informed about financial frameworks and be able to provide this information to the patients if needed.
First, ACA (Affordable Care Act) produced an increase in health coverage and expanded Medicaid coverage for long-term treatment. It provided coverage for people with pre-existent conditions and focused on preventive care, including recommended screenings and other services in the insurance (Ochieng et al., 2022). Second, ARP allocated 9.4 billion dollars for SNFs and got an opportunity to apply for additional grants because SBFs treated a large number of COVID-19 patients. In addition, the ARP included 200 million dollars of support for the implementation of testing and vaccination programs in SNFs (Schwartz et al.,2020). However, SNFs must be alert to the changing situation and possible fiscal challenges because the utilization is declining and staffing.
To keep the situation under control and quickly respond to the changing financial situation, we will collect and analyze quarterly changes in the structure of the delivered services. Staff can write to a specially created email address ([email protected]). There will be weekly meetings available on Mondays, and you can schedule the appointment through my assistant.
References
Schwartz, K. et al. (2020). Update on COVID-19 Funding for Hospitals and Other Providers. KKF. Web.
Ochieng, N. et al. (2022). Funding for Health Care Providers During the Pandemic: An Update. KKF. Web.
The coronavirus outbreak has had a profound impact on the entire planet. COVID-19 became one of the most serious challenges faced by the global community, disrupting normal processes across various industries and changing the lives of millions of people. However, while most areas of human activity saw a strong pandemic-conditioned impact, its effect on the healthcare system has been particularly serious. The global medical infrastructure and workers showed a consolidated effort at the time of a previously unseen healthcare crisis. The magnitude of the situation became a major stressor for the system, forming a highly difficult environment. However, in addition to the direct impact of the pandemic on the population, COVID-19 had other disrupting repercussions. Following the response protocols implemented by the authorities in an attempt to contain the virus, direct personal contact had to be reduced to a minimum. This principle included the patient interaction in medical settings, especially for non-urgent cases. Under these circumstances, electronic consultations became an emerging healthcare trend. This format entails an array of challenges for the system, as well as opportunities. Nevertheless, the former are to be addressed effectively for the latter to reveal themselves.
First of all, while the format of telemedicine is not a new phenomenon, its implementation had never been full-scale prior to the pandemic. As in many other sectors, COVID-19 changed the rules of the industry, leading to an unprecedented prevalence of remote medical interactions. For many people, the novelty of the format became a major drawback. Indeed, the effectiveness of telemedicine is not a proven nor well-established concept in the minds of the population. Therefore, for the patients, it may have been associated with decreased quality of care (Gadzinski et al., 2020). In this regard, overcoming prejudices and creating a favorable image of the format became the primary challenge for the system. Electronic consultations have been introduced for both COVID patients and other cases to reduce the risks of the virus contraction. In the present situation, the widespread use of telemedicine has become a necessity, but it has the potential to improve the prevalence of the format in the long term. This way, more patients will benefit from affordable and efficient electronic consultations in the post-COVID age, especially in non-serious cases, thus reducing the workload of the system.
At the same time, the format of electronic consultations faced another impediment in the form of the population’s digital literacy. This barrier has been observed across other spheres, in which remote communication became the norm, such as education. Within the healthcare system, the lack of digital literacy encompassed both medical professionals and their patients. Indeed, as stated by Hong et al. (2020), electronic consultations are highly demanding from the technological perspective. In addition to a stable connection and high-quality video equipment, they require a certain degree of computer knowledge from the users on both ends. The necessity of ensuring such consultations prompted medical professionals and their patients to improve their digital literacy, which is a positive development in the long term. In addition, the emerging prevalence of telemedicine became an impetus for the companies that develop high-tech solutions in the spheres of medicine and telecommunications. State-of-the-art applications and Internet-based technologies became available for all participants of the healthcare system, which is a highly beneficial development (Sust, 2020). Such trends reflect the opportunities that emerge in the time of crisis and help to build a better post-COVID future of healthcare.
Ultimately, the necessity of electronic consultations entailed major challenges for the healthcare systems. Most patients and medical professionals were not familiar with the modern remote solutions, which instilled a degree of mistrust. In addition, electronic consultations imposed additional requirements in terms of technological preparedness and digital literacies. However, the age of COVID prompted patients and practitioners to update their knowledge of the contemporary solutions, transforming the crisis into the time of new opportunities.
References
Gadzinski, A. J., Andino, J. J., Odisho, A. Y., Watts, K. L., Gore, J. L., & Ellimoottil, C. (2020). Telemedicine and econsults for hospitalized patients during COVID-19. Urology, 141, 12–14. Web.
The study area is Woodside, Zip code- 11377, a residential and commercial neighborhood in Queens borough in New York City. According to Wilensky and Akpan (2021), Corona Virus cases in Woodside from November 6 to November 12 are as follows: there were 1.5% positive cases, whereby among the 2600 people tested, 39 of them tested positive. The November 14, 2021, statistics show that the proportions of residents of all ages in Woodside who have received vaccines against COVID-19 include 84% (fully vaccinated) and 89% (partially vaccinated).
Herd immunity refers to the hindrance to the spread of diseases following high immunity to an infectious disease. Herd immunity occurs when the proportion of the people capable of getting a disease is less than the population immune to the disease. Therefore, the community transmission level in Queens County is substantial and positive cases are 1.74% (D’Souza and Dowdy, 2021). The county is far from the herd immunity level since the rate of COVID-19 spread is high compared to the proportion of the population immune to the disease.
Today’s current concern is genomic testing and tracking to reach herd immunity. The variant is racing ahead; hence, the nation is in reactive mode. According to White (2021), being behind the virus following administration disagreements limits our ability to achieve herd immunity. However, a lack of a strategic plan results in poor approaches to ending the pandemic. The freedom of choosing whether to be vaccinated hinders the nation from achieving herd immunity since most people are against the vaccine. Hence, a state should conduct a more significant proportion of a population immune to a disease to stop its spread depending on its contagious level.
I perceive that governments and administrations should establish strategic plans and work together to end this pandemic. Although it is ethically right to allow people to make individual decisions concerning the vaccine, I support Garrett’s opinion that governments should place a massive push to vaccinate people. I believe that states should offer eligibility for children’s vaccination since most of them are susceptible to Corona Virus to achieve herd immunity.
The measures taken by the responsible authorities to deal with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent its spread include various interventions. As an example of targeted activities, the work of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health will be examined in terms of the effectiveness of awareness media campaigns promoted in the country to manage the current crisis during the epidemic. As a methodology, an analytical cross-sectional study will be conducted to determine the association between two variables – the success of the six-month work and its impact on public safety. As a sample, a large random community will be involved, and key data will be collected through surveys. The planned research will last about two months, which is necessary for conducting a detailed literature review, testing the theoretical framework, interacting with the target audience, and interpreting the results. In addition, an ethical approval from the relevant committee is to be obtained. The significance of this study lies in an opportunity to assess the relevance of those awareness campaigns promoted by the Ministry of Health of the KSA during the pandemic to draw conclusions about their relevance and value.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has affected social, economic, and other aspects of life significantly. Saudi Arabia, like most of the world’s countries, has felt the consequences of the dangerous coronavirus. Today, the state is doing everything possible to prevent a second wave of the epidemic, and according to the current data of August, 25, 1,114 confirmed cases of the disease have been registered in the country, which is almost twice less than a month ago (2,201 cases) (“Saudi Arabia Overview,” 2020). At the same time, measures to combat the dangerous virus were adopted long ago. In March, the country’s Ministry of Health worked with the World Health Organization (2020) to create conditions for the effective prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Earlier, in February, the Ministry of Health (2020) presented a comprehensive report describing the epidemiology of the virus, prevention measures, and objectives for all stakeholders. However, this report included only official recommendations and information from the main health authority. One should note that the media coverage of the COVID-19 problem and campaigns initiated by the Ministry of Health have also become part of the ideological work to counter the coronavirus.
This research proposal aims to describe the effectiveness of Saudi media campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a methodology, an analytical cross-sectional study will be conducted to determine the relationship between awareness media projects initiated by the country’s Ministry of Health and their impact on public health outcomes. A literature review will provide an opportunity to collect relevant data and highlight the appropriate theoretical framework for conducting an objective analysis of the topic under consideration. The timeline and budget of the proposed study will be determined based on the period from the start of active coronavirus prevention measures to the present. This proposal will help assess the relevance and effectiveness of Saudi media campaigns under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and provide specific data on the results of these programs.
Research Question
To analyze the proposed topic, the formulation of a research question is an essential step. This will allow identifying the area of interest and provide the main variables for comparison in the framework of the planned analytical study. While taking the designated topic, the research question may be as follows: have the Saudi Ministry of Health’s awareness media campaigns been sufficiently effective for the six-month period since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Literature Review
As a key tool for collecting an evidence base, a literature review will be conducted. For this work, relevant scholarly resources will be engaged that correspond to the topic in question and can offer researchers; unique views on COVID-19 prevention in Saudi Arabia through media campaigns. Numerous authors evaluate the pandemic in the KSA, but in many articles, the role of the media is negligible. For instance, Barry et al. (2020) and Ebrahim and Memish (2020) assess the preparedness of the state to combat COVID-19, but the key emphasis is on analyzing preventive and mitigation measures. Al-Tawfiq and Memish (2020) also describe ways to counter the coronavirus through sanitary-therapeutic interventions with a focus on the preparedness of the state healthcare for the pandemic. Yezli and Khan (2020), in turn, assess social distancing as one of the COVID-19 prevention measures and mention the Ministries of Health, Sports, and Culture without emphasizing unique approaches. All these aspects are important for evaluating the pandemic problem, but they do not reflect the role of media campaigns and their impact on the spread of the disease.
At the same time, individual studies are focused on analyzing the role of relevant media platforms in preventing the pandemic in the KSA. According to Alkhamees et al. (2020), immediately after the first case of the COVID-19 infection in Saudi Arabia, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, the government launched a media program designed to convey to the population the importance of social isolation during the pandemic. Special instructions were issued at the end of March, and a quarantine regime was introduced in a number of large cities. Waheed et al. (2020) draws attention to the social media function during the pandemic and assess the role of WhatsApp as a popular digital communication platform. The researchers confirm that the use of this application paid off: 31.65% of all blood donors were recruited via WhatsApp messages (Waheed et al., 2020, p. 1). Thurston (2020), in turn, mentions the campaign called “Before Disaster/Qabl al-Karitha” aimed “to agitate anew for the release of prisoners” to slow the spread of the coronavirus (p. 16). All these measures prove the active involvement of the media in the fight against COVID-19 in the KSA.
Individual articles offer a valuable methodological base and may be utilized as a background for a theoretical framework for the ongoing research proposal. In particular, Bonyan et al. (2020) conduct a cross-sectional study aimed to assess how effective the awareness level of the population was during the COVID-19 pandemic in Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia. The researchers note the role of such social media platforms as WhatsApp and Facebook and cite their valuable function as a tool to attract target audiences to participate in the study (Bonyan et al., 2020). As a result, the role of the media sector is assessed as significant for the formation of a preventive attitude towards the pandemic. Shahin et al. (2020) offer similar data and apply the identical type of research – a cross-sectional study. The authors consider different media outlets essential instruments to notify the population about the threat of the coronavirus and reduce the incidence rate (Shahin et al., 2020). Thus, the function of media campaigns is important with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In many academic sources, the impact of social media on human behavior during the pandemic is mentioned. For instance, Zitoun (2020) and Garrett (2020) draw attention to false information in the media space and the importance of combating it to reduce public panic and rule out any conspiracy theories. Bisanzio et al. (2020) highlight the use of Twitter as a tool to predict “the spatiotemporal spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19” (p. 19). Obied et al. (2020), in turn, turn to the online environment as a potentially powerful instrument to raise the public awareness of the pandemic and enable remote service delivery through ad hoc campaigns and consumer engagement programs. In addition, different social institutions are involved through relevant media campaigns, including family and religion. Li et al. (2020) emphasize the importance of online communication between psychologists and parents to improve the level of people’s health education and provide moral support. Atique and Itumalla (2020) describe media calls for Muslims to pay attention to the Hajj conventions during the pandemic. All these campaigns can be assessed as valuable drivers of preventing the spread of the coronavirus among the population.
Theoretical Framework
Based on the conducted literature review and the assessment of the diversity of media campaigns in Saudi Arabia to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the population, one can propose a suitable theoretical framework to apply to the planned study. Since the articles by Bonyan et al. (2020) and Shahin et al. (2020) reflect a direct relationship between the variables of media exposure and the coronavirus infection, the methodological basis of these studies can be applied as a background. In particular, a cross-sectional analytical study is a potentially efficient mechanism to assess how productive and well-grounded awareness media campaigns were during the COVID-19 pandemic in the KSA. According to Keil et al. (2020), such a methodological approach may help evaluate the impact of one variable on the other by using an appropriate sample and the necessary data as a rationale. Consequently, when conducting research on the impact of media campaigns promoted by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health on crisis management during the pandemic, one should take into account the direct correlation between these two variables. Thus, the proposed theoretical framework is a convenient basis for further research work.
Methodology
Since the future study is planned to be carried out within one country and assess the interaction between the two variables, the cross-sectional principle of data collection and processing is optimal. The target group of participants will be determined, and the data collection method will be based on a qualitative approach through surveys. As tools for assessing the information collected, general criteria of interdependence will be presented based on two variables under consideration – the effectiveness of awareness media campaigns carried out by the Saudi Ministry of Health and the value of this work in dealing with the crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ethical aspects of the study will be determined, and timeline and budget parameters will be proposed to obtain a comprehensive picture of the work ahead. The value of the presented methodology lies in an opportunity to conduct a detailed analysis of the topic in question and answer the research question posed.
Research Design and Method
As a research design, an analytical cross-sectional study will be applied. Alghamdi et al. (2020) utilize the same design to review the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia and note that this approach to testing their idea of the effects of measures taken to prevent the spread of the disease in the KSA on people’s mental health. This research principle makes it possible to engage a large sample and use objective data about a specific problem through direct interaction with the target audience. In the planned study, participants will be asked questions to assess respondents’ views on the effectiveness of the Saudi Ministry of Health’s program in promoting awareness media campaigns to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Based on these data, specific information will be obtained and analyzed in relation to the total number of participants involved. This approach is a convenient form of evaluating the relationship between the two proposed variables.
Sample
As a sample, a dedicated community of randomly selected members is chosen to explore whether media awareness campaigns carried out by the Saudi Ministry of Health have helped the population or not to avoid the coronavirus. The larger will be the number of participants, the higher is the likelihood of obtaining objective and accurate data since not a separate demographic criterion is assessed (age, gender, race, or other parameters) but the general prevalence of a particular opinion among the population. As a result, approximately 2,000 members need to be involved from the selected community, and no specific selection criteria should be dominant. As a possible aspect to pay attention to, the participation of those who have already been ill with COVID-19 is encouraged to obtain and compare their opinions on the effectiveness of the Ministry’s proposed preventive measures through the media. However, this factor is not determinative and can be ignored if specific participants are not found.
Data Collection
A comparison will be made of how effective the media campaigns have been in the selected community and what effect they had on the target audience. As data collection tools, surveys and real data on disease dynamics will be applied. As objective sources of information, current online platforms will be applied, which reflect the increase in incidence, the frequency of new cases per day, and the rate of recovery in the population, for instance, the Worldometer website (“Saudi Arabia,” 2020). To assess the data obtained from selected participants, surveys will be prepared with a series of questions about how the Ministry of Health has used media platforms to promote prevention measures against COVID-19 and how effective these efforts have been.
Discussion
To calculate the results, standard statistical techniques will be applied, and the average rate of satisfaction with the proposed media campaigns among the population will be determined. No additional programs or calculation models will be applied since the planned study does not imply assessing the proposed correlation from the perspective of different criteria and is based on the overall comparison of the two variables in question. The analysis of the data obtained will help answer the research question of how effective the awareness media campaigns initiated by the Saudi Ministry of Health have been in addressing the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In case their effectiveness is proven through the answers of the respondents, in the future, this information may be used as a guideline and a list of recommendations for the promotion of epidemic prevention methods.
Limitations
Although the proposed research does not involve complex calculations and comparisons of many variables, there are potential limitations. Firstly, an analytical study assumes a standard analysis that is based on identifying associations and does not involve searching for deep risk factors or outcomes. This means that case the effectiveness of awareness media campaigns in Saudi Arabia is not proven, no additional implications or proposals for intervention will be given. Secondly, the chosen data collection mechanism includes a comprehensive but random and insufficiently accurate mechanism. Research participants may misrepresent information, intentionally or unintentionally, but in any case, the reliability of the data will be distorted. To minimize the negative impact of these limitations, in the section on the significance of the planned work, recommendations will be given regarding subsequent research activities on the proposed topic. In addition, the importance of accurate data will be highlighted to the members of the study as a crucial aspect of scholarly work. These measures can help reduce the likelihood of declining the validity of the proposed study.
Ethics
To comply with research ethics during the research process, all participants involved as a sample for collecting data should sign a written agreement to consent to the processing of information, and anonymity should be taken into account if desired. In addition, members of the respondent need to should understand the relevance of the study and its importance since the ignorance of the background of the issue can become a limitation in obtaining reliable data from the target audience. As a further measure to ensure that the planned research is ethical, an approval for research work should be obtained from the relevant committee. Finally, all provisions the code of ethical conduct for research involving human participants should be observed to exclude bias or the deliberate distortion of facts in respondents’ answers. The proposed measures are mandatory for a scholarly study in accordance with all the rules of contemporary academic research.
Communicating the Results
To communicate the results of the planned research as efficiently as possible, publication in a scholarly journal is a convenient way. All participants who have expressed a desire to obtain the outcomes of the work done should receive appropriate emails with specific estimates. In addition, if an association between the proposed variables is proven, both the academic community and the responsible officials need to be notified of the research results. Interaction with the Ministry of Health is an important aspect of feedback. Since the topic concerns the socially significant area of protecting public health, the outcomes can be presented in the form of a report to convey the relevance of the measures and communicate the risks and threats of COVID-19 to develop valuable campaigns in the future if needed.
Significance of Research
The significance of the planned study lies in an opportunity to prove a positive association between awareness media campaigns carried out in Saudi Arabia by the Ministry of Health and effective crisis management and public assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. This activity is important in the context of mass enthusiasm for digital platforms, and information sent through modern media is a potentially effective mechanism. Tasnim et al. (2020) confirm the relevance of this approach during past pandemics (H1N1 influenza, Ebola, and other dangerous diseases) and note the convenience of communicating relevant guidelines through the media. If a positive association is proven, further research in this field can be directed towards a deeper analysis, for instance, assessing the impact of media campaigns on certain groups of the population or the role of specific media platforms in this work.
Timeline
Although the scope of the study covers a half-year period from the start of the pandemic to the present, the timeline for the planned work will be shorter. It may take a week to conduct a literature review and search for justifications for the background of the issue. The same period is required to obtain an approval form a specific ethics committee. Direct research work involving design testing, theoretical framework assessment, data collection, and the analysis of findings can take from one month to a month and a half. Publishing in a respective academic journal or another resource is not included in the general timeline. This means that the planned analytical study can be completed in two months.
Budget
For the planned research, budgetary funds are needed to prepare the necessary surveys for the participants, pay for the services of assistants involved in the analysis of the results obtained, and publish the finished article in a specific academic journal. The purchase of corresponding consumables need to be completed (paper, stationery), but most of the available money will be spent on paying the team of researchers transcribing the study results. To interact with the target audience and colleagues, no additional funds are required since interaction can be carried out either online via email or text messengers or via mobile communication.
Atique, S., & Itumalla, R. (2020). Hajj in the time of COVID-19. Infection, Disease & Health, 25(3), 219-221. Web.
Barry, M., Ghonem, L., Alsharidi, A., Alanazi, A., Alotaibi, N. H., Al‑Shahrani, F. S., Al Majid, F., & BaHammam, A. S. (2020). Coronavirus disease‑2019 pandemic in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Mitigation measures and hospital preparedness. Journal of Nature and Science of Medicine, 3(3), 155-158. Web.
Bisanzio, D., Kraemer, M. U., Bogoch, I. I., Brewer, T., Brownstein, J. S., & Reithinger, R. (2020). Use of Twitter social media activity as a proxy for human mobility to predict the spatiotemporal spread of COVID-19 at global scale. Geospatial Health, 15(1), 19-24. Web.
Ebrahim, S. H., & Memish, Z. A. (2020). COVID-19: Preparing for superspreader potential among Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. Lancet, 395(10227), e48. Web.
Keil, E. J., Navarro, S. M., Shaikh, H., Yao, L. E., & Tuttle, T. M. (2020). Social media perceptions of surgical cancer care in the era of COVID-19: A global cross-sectional study. JCO Global Oncology, 6, 1306-1311. Web.
Li, W., Liao, J., Li, Q., Baskota, M., Wang, X., Tang, Y., Zhou, Q., Wang, X., Luo, X., Ma, Y., Fukuoka, T., Ahn, H. S., Lee, M. S., Chen, Y., Luo, Z., & Liu, E. (2020). Public health education for parents during the outbreak of COVID-19: A rapid review. Annals of Translational Medicine, 8(10), 628-638. Web.
Obied, D. A., Alhamlan, F. S., Al-Qahtani, A. A., & Al-Ahdal, M. N. (2020). Containment of COVID-19: The unprecedented response of Saudi Arabia. The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 14(07), 699-706. Web.
Saudi Arabia. (2020). Worldometer. Web.
Saudi Arabia Overview. (2020). Corona Tracker. Web.
Tasnim, S., Hossain, M. M., & Mazumder, H. (2020). Impact of rumors and misinformation on COVID-19 in social media. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, 53(3), 171-174. Web.
Thurston, A. (2020). Islamic responses to COVID-19. The COVID-19 Pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa, 15-18.
The unexpected emergence of the COVID 19 pandemic caused significant complications to the performance of the majority of hospitals across the country due to the lack of knowledge and unpreparedness for such kind of emergency. The problem identified at the clinical practice site is the lack of an emergency preparedness plan and resources in response to the COVID 19 pandemic crisis. Broadly speaking, a pandemic crisis is defined as a dynamic transition of a virus across nations via interpersonal interactions (Griffin et a., 2020). Onsite observations indicate that skilled nursing facilities lack a specifically designed policy for managing pandemic and effective management of critical situations. The lack of policy led to the uncontrolled patient admission and treatment processes and disparities in care provision. Also, the high number of patients was unable to obtain necessary care due to the unorganized facilities and ineffective action plan. As nurses are expected to respond to the pandemic crisis, It is essential to begin with assessing the facility of an emergency and educating staff on how to respond and manage a crisis.
Practice-Focused Question(s)
Recognizing the problem of the lack of emergency preparedness at skilled nursing facility, this DNP project is designed to answer two questions: What evidence-based strategies have emerged in the literature in the last ten years on best approaches for an emergency? A secondary question is: will a staff education program improve the nursing staff’s knowledge on emergency preparedness?
Educational Intervention
The healthcare facility as a system must function according to strictly designed policies and codes of conduct. According to McHugh (2010), “nurse staffing and supporting systems are weak links in the preparedness chain,” which is why it is crucial to ensure their compliance with the policies for the avoidance of failures in crisis management (p. 442). Importantly, the shortage of the nursing workforce nationwide imposes a need for attracting volunteers, retired nurses, temporary nurses, and invoking mutual aid agreements to come with public health emergencies (McHugh, 2010). However, all the nurses involved in the process must adhere to the same system of rule of conduct within the same action plan to ensure the unified efforts in crisis overcoming. Therefore, in order to eliminate accidents and errors in emergency departments, the nursing staff must be taught how to use an effectively designed action plan to address the complicated issues of the pandemic crisis.
Firstly, the nurses should be provided with the information on the particularities of the virus and the hazards it imposes. As in the case of any other crisis, the educational intervention aimed at COVID 19 should contain information about mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery, as the main aspects of crisis management (Ross & Bing, 2007). The process of education might be conducted by means of online conferences, remote-access seminars, and references to articles containing up-to-date information about the diagnosis and treatment options (Griffin et al., 2020). Since the virus is a rapidly evolving disease, the most recent data is vital for effective treatment.
Secondly, the mitigation efforts are aimed at the reduction of the impact caused by the emergency and lessening of the number of victims. Therefore, nurses must be educated about social distancing promotion and self-protection popularization in healthy individuals. Within the context of preparedness and response, it is vital for the nursing staff to ensure confident knowledge of the current policy enacted by the facility. The understanding of the steps required for proper response to the crisis will contribute to the collaborative effort of the whole unit and ensure the effectiveness of the crisis management.
Thirdly, another important issue in the implementation of an educational intervention is the efficiency of time use and planning. Under the circumstances of a high flow of patients and fast progress of the symptoms, timely action, and efficient organization of the work process is vital (Griffin et al., 2020). In addition, the standardization of care is another important issue that has the potential of eliminating errors and accidents and complies with global standards (Griffin et al., 2020). Thus, organizational aspects of conduct under the influence of crisis must constitute a significant part of the educational intervention.
Finally, due to the high number of patients arriving at a facility in the time of emergency situations, the screening and prioritization of the patients is a core element of nurses’ actions. Patients’ comorbidities should be evaluated in order to identify the risks associated with the complications induced by COVID 19. The positive patients’ contacts must be established and informed about the necessity of isolation (Ross & Bing, 2007). The high contingency level of the disease implies extensive safety measures across the facility staff. Indeed, in order to educate the nursing staff about the effective preparedness and response to the crisis under the circumstances of critical staff shortage, it is essential to promote self-protection measures when interacting with patients.
Overall, the educational interventions for nurses in the case of the COVID 19 emergency need to be arranged around the policy and action plans enacted in the facility. The protection of the health and well-being of health care workers is key in the effective execution of crisis management actions. Also, screening and prioritizing the patients, as well as engaging in the continuous updating of data related to diagnosis and treatment, will ensure better preparedness and a more effective response to COVID 19 emergency.
References
Griffin, K. M., Karas, M. G., Ivascu, N. S., & Lief, L. (2020). Hospital preparedness for COVID-19: A practical guide from a critical care perspective. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 201(11), 1337-1344.
McHugh, M. D. (2010). Hospital nurse staffing and public health emergency preparedness: Implications for policy. Public Health Nursing, 27(5), 442-449.
Ross, K. L., & Bing,C. M. (2007). Emergency. Home Healthcare Nurse, 25(6), 371-377.
The Legislature has created a task force known as the United States National COVID-19 Pandemic Response Task Force. The Task Force Objectives are to study, evaluate, and report on the United States’ preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Force aims to avoid unnecessary duplication by reviewing other relevant Task Forces’ findings, conclusions, and recommendations (Prevent Pandemics Act, 2022). In addition, the Force aims to identify gaps in public health preparedness and medical response policies, processes, and activities, including differences in rates of COVID-19 infection (Prevent Pandemics Act, 2022). The Task Force’s roles include conducting a review that examines the initial outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in China (Prevent Pandemics Act, 2022). The Force will examine the United States preparations for and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Task Force aims to study communication between public health and scientific information related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Impact of Bill on Nursing Practice Standard
Nursing is mentioned in the bill under the section on maintaining the public health workforce. At this stage in the existence of the law, it will not affect the established standard for nurses. The law correlates with the existing standard for professional nurses. Standard 5A on Coordination of Care describes the nurse’s role in the medical team and the specific responsibility for communicating with the patient (ANA, 2021). The proposed law considers the peculiarities of communication in the scope of the healthcare organization and insists on the importance of establishing these pathways. However, given the breadth and scope of the proposed project, new standards may be set in the future. Since the law aims not only to combat COVID-19 but also to minimize such a scenario, it may put forward requirements for professional nurses (Prevent Pandemics Act, 2022). The requirements may aim to establish the most effective and prompt response measures to prevent outbreaks of diseases that can develop into pandemics. If the law does not pass, it can lead to stagnation in changes in standards that need to be adjusted to the new post-pandemic realities.
Impact of Bill on Nursing Practice
The bill will significantly affect the daily work of nurses, and I am no exception. On the one hand, it is aimed at facilitating work; on the other hand, the requirements may become more authoritarian. By analyzing the inefficiencies of previous policies, the law may save me from additional paperwork associated with case registration. The pandemic has shown how important the ability of the health system to respond to complex changing conditions quickly is. As an integral part of the system, I must work to the limit in critical situations. However, the law can force me to work harder with an existing team. The bill proposes introducing a system of incentives for medical workers and providing them access to fundamental worker rights. To support employees in the healthcare sector, it is proposed to introduce special awards for practical work. With the new reward system, I will be more motivated to do my job as a nurse. In addition, state support is needed for education in the medical field. If the law is not passed, nursing practice will not be adapted to work with patients during a pandemic.
Communication Strategies
The necessity and importance of the law should be conveyed to both the general public and the medical professionals who will be directly affected by the initiative. To address the organization’s employees, a general meeting with a designated subject of discussion is best suited. It will not be difficult to convince employees of the benefits of the plan for them in the first place. The workload will be significantly reduced by implementing a plan to stop the spread of the disease. My colleagues will be convinced of the necessity of the law, as it will positively affect patient care. Also important is the need to adapt the nursing standard, which my colleagues understand. The bill is not controversial, so it will be easy to convey its essence. Communication strategies for addressing employees can involve verbal and non-verbal means. The best communication strategy will be verbal communication, conducive to a trusting environment.
Proving the Necessity of the Bill
To justify the correctness of the proposed law, it is necessary to convey to the medical staff the need for the proposed changes. First, the law suggests the need to review existing measures designed to combat epidemics such as COVID-19. Modern humanity has not yet had precedents in solving such global problems. Therefore, most of the laws, regulations, and vaccine development took place under conditions of maximum labor mobilization. That is why it is necessary to review the actions taken and draw conclusions for the future. In addition, the adoption of this law in the long term will help fight against epidemics, improve the quality of medical care, and facilitate the work of nursing staff.
Improved Nursing Practice
During the pandemic, junior medical staff has taken on increased responsibility. In addition to the essential duties and dangerous work with covid-positive patients, nurses had to deal with paperwork, reporting, registering patients, and tracing disease chains. The proposed law will significantly reduce the increased workload by simplifying the new responsibilities (Prevent Pandemics Act, 2022). First, the law involves determining the need for certain practices. Secondly, the law provides for creating an initiative team, which, among other things, could take on part of the work. When the workload on medical staff has eased for the first time since the start of the pandemic, nurses can return to their usual duties. This will improve the quality of care provided and reduce the fatigue of junior medical staff.
Community Impact of the Bill
Another indication of the need for legislation is the potential for improved patient care, which is the primary responsibility of all healthcare professionals. First, an analysis of existing laws and regulations will be able to identify valid and invalid regulatory practices. Their revision will allow for providing care to patients at a higher level. Secondly, after revising unnecessary acts, the medical staff will have much more time to devote themselves to work. In addition, the law provides for an analysis of effective measures in the fight against COVID-19, which may allow the implementation of these measures in the daily care of patients.
Once nurses can return to their regular duties, the other impact of the new law on the quality of care provided needs to be considered. The proposed law insists that the assistance provided during the pandemic needs to be reviewed and improved. Indeed, unprepared for a pandemic, the medical community could make wrong decisions in the face of the minimal time to resolve any case. The argument for this statement is the lack of research on the existing treatment and the insufficient effectiveness of the developed vaccines. As the tensions of the first year of the pandemic eased, the time has come for research into not only COVID-19 but other potentially dangerous diseases. The research will contribute to public health in my community by discovering effective treatments for dangerous diseases.
Improvements
Preventing Subsequent Epidemics
The main goal of the bill is to further fight against possible pandemics. It is necessary to review existing control measures and evaluate their effectiveness and new measures aimed at combating emerging threats. Eliminating inequalities and improving the public health emergency response have been cited as practical responses to the pandemic. Upgrading biosurveillance and infectious disease data collection capabilities will also significantly contribute to preventing the spread of infections (Prevent Pandemics Act, 2022). Government promotion of research and development and improved coordination will be significant pushes into the future of emergency prevention. Improved control and surveillance of selected biological agents and toxins as a safety measure is designed to prevent the leakage of potentially dangerous infections.
Increasing the Quality of Public Health
In addition to measures to prevent pandemics, the bill aims to maintain public health outside of emergencies. Strengthening public health communication aims to improve coordination between sectors and regulators with the sole goal of caring for the public. Improving state and local public health security is the primary goal of implementing this project (Prevent Pandemics Act, 2022). An essential aspect of increasing access to psychological assistance during emergencies is mentioned. The modernization and strengthening of the supply chain of vital medical commodities are designed to provide affordable medicines to the entire population. The fight against counterfeit medicines and the strengthening of drug control measures will be another initiative to strengthen public health.
References
ANA. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice. United States: American Nurses Association.
Prevent Pandemics Act, Publ. L. No. S. 3799 (117th). (2022). BILLS-117s3799is.pdf (govinfo.gov)
In the last three years, reality has tirelessly provided new, formidable challenges to healthcare workers. It seems that the new one could be the monkeypox infection pandemic. According to experts, “there have been 780 confirmed cases of monkeypox in countries where the virus is not usually found” (Monkeypox, 2022, para. 1). Efficient community health measures are needed to prevent the widespread of these dangerous microorganisms throughout the global population. Fortunately, monkeypox is not a new infection, and it is well-researched in terms of its effective averting and treatment on all levels. For example, educational interventions in communities most susceptible to infectious outbreaks enhance their knowledge of diseases and medicines and behaviors and intentions regarding hygiene and health-seeking (Owoyemi et al., 2021). It is a community health outcome that needs to be considered in situations associated with the risk of new epidemics and pandemics.
Supporting Data
At least three academic sources have backed up a theory about the efficacy of educational initiatives and programs in developing ordinary people’s knowledge of widespread respiratory viruses. One of them is the paper by Owoyemi et al. in which he and his colleagues state that “the post-intervention survey revealed improvements in knowledge and positive health-related behavioral intents” (Owoyemi et al., 2021, p. 880). Another one from China and its writers calculated that “average accuracies of knowledge and behaviors towards infectious diseases reached 72.23% and 60.03%” (Wang et al., 2018, p. 1). In addition, Li et al. (2019) found that “the sum infectious disease knowledge score … was higher after the intervention” (p. 70). As can be seen, their main finding and conclusion are similar to the other two presented.
Sources of Exposure
Knowing factors that can worsen community-level health outcomes allows one to make the impact of interventions and programs more sustainable and save resources such as time and efforts of health workers and findings. Among the things that can reduce the knowledge and worsen the behavior of a specific large group of people about infectious diseases is poor education. The lifestyle of more educated persons, especially those with tertiary education, is comparatively healthier (Raghupathi & Raghupathi, 2020). Consequently, their pre-intervention awareness of illnesses and healthy behaviors and general ability to cognize such information is more comprehensive than those who could not receive quality teaching. Gender imbalance and disparities in crucial institutions are other factors of negative influence on the discussed health outcome (Saul et al., 2018). The lack of focused funding for preventive community programs and policies is destructive (Farberman et al., 2020). In conclusion, institutional weaknesses are the primary causes that undermine the presented health outcome.
Related Research Paper
The scholarly work of Li et al., which had already been previously quoted, was selected for this final section. The purpose of Chinese researchers and health experts was to analyze and evaluate structurally different instructional and educative interventions in a factory setting to develop original recommendations for ailment and disease prevention programs (Li et al., 2019). The assumptions and hypotheses they present have an accepted character, judging by how the researchers formulate and construct ideas in the introduction. There is a visible presupposition of objectivity and correctness of concepts and theories critical for research and original inferences. The sample selection method by Li et al. (2019) consists of two stages, random sampling for factories and convenience sampling for people. It is noteworthy that the total number of people in all three factories was over 3000 individuals and the final total sample size reached over 1200 persons (Li et al., 2019).
Owoyemi, A., Okolie, E. A., Omitiran, K., Amaechi, U. A., Sodipo, B. O., Ajumobi, O., Nnaji, C. E., & Okedo-Alex, I. N. (2021). Importance of community-level interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 105(4), 879-883. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.20-1533
The COVID-19 pandemic poses an enormous challenge to society, placing a burden on the health care system and presenting a number of issues to health care professionals globally. The scarcity of resources needed to overcome the virus outbreak implies that it is impossible to treat everyone equally (Spike & Lunstroth, 2016). As a result, governments and medical personnel face ethical problems. It is necessary to distribute vaccines in the most efficient way to maximize the benefits and eliminate the harm to the population. According to Savulescu et al. (2020), “a failure to carefully consider the consequences of actions could lead to massive preventable loss of life” (p. 620). Therefore, the federal task force must examine the best approach to the coronavirus vaccine distribution during the ongoing pandemic. The purpose of this statement is to address other members of the task force to explore the principle of social worth and discuss who should be given priority when distributing vaccinations during a pandemic.
Vaccine Priority Groups during a Pandemic
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that aims to achieve the overall good for society through appropriate actions and resource distribution. As stated by Savulescu et al. (2020), “one utilitarian rule of thumb is to save the greatest number (other things being equal)” (p. 623). According to this principle, people involved in public health care and safety should be vaccinated first because they can benefit others and contribute to the overall good. In particular, first responders such as medical workers, the police, and soldiers are essential to the functioning of society, and their vaccination must be a priority.
Following the utilitarian principle of minimizing harm, the next group should be the elderly due to their vulnerability and fatal risks of COVID-19. Similarly, people with comorbidities who are at a higher risk of complications should also be prioritized. Other vulnerable populations such as institutionalized people and individuals facing social exclusion must follow. The next group includes essential workers involved in education, transportation, and the food industry (Williams et al., 2021). Finally, adults over 55 constitute the next priority group, followed by the general population.
Such an approach to vaccine allocation benefits both the priority groups and the general population. The utilitarian principle can reduce severe cases and deaths in vulnerable populations, achieving the goal of reducing harm. Furthermore, frontline workers are provided with the necessary protection while facing significant risks (Williams et al., 2021). Their functionality is critical to the rest of the population who require health care and safety services. At the same time, non-priority citizens are still at risk of getting COVID-19 and suffering from consequences ranging from mild to fatal, which presents harm to this population. The burdens associated with this allocation decision will primarily affect the health care system and workers responsible for the timely vaccine administration.
The Principle of Social Worth
The concept of social worth is part of the utilitarian ethical theory. CDC (2021) reports the following moral justification for decision-making, as determined by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP): benefit maximization, harm minimization, health inequities mitigation, and justice and transparency promotion. The COVID-19 pandemic’s circumstances require governments to follow this priority to achieve the overall good. In particular, if health workers and people at greatest risk are not prioritized in vaccine distribution, a health care system collapse is likely to occur, with tremendous consequences to society as a whole.
Undoubtedly, there are dangers associated with this vaccine distribution policy. As reported by Williams et al. (2021), “planning how to distribute vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 is even harder because we understand relatively little about the virus, transmission, and its immunological impact in the short and long term” (p. 994). Furthermore, a utilitarian approach inevitably disadvantages certain population groups who are not prioritized. Low-income countries are historically disadvantaged by the principle of social worth and vaccine prioritization. The WHO (2021) reports that COVID-19 vaccine inequality harms fragile health care systems in developing countries while “richer countries have paid trillions in stimulus to prop up flagging economies” (para. 2). In addition, abuses of authority have already been reported, such as nursing home management providing their friends with vaccines (Boyd, 2021). Such situations must be acknowledged and prevented to ensure the maximum possible equality in such a challenging position.
Different professions’ advocacy for other principles can present another challenge to the proposed vaccine allocation. While it is rarely argued that health care workers should not be prioritized, there is an ethical issue of vaccine administration for non-priority occupations. For example, market, retail, manufacturing, and hospitality sector workers are affected by the inequality in health and social protection, as well as losses of working hours and jobs.
Conclusion
To conclude, the principle of social worth applied to vaccine distribution is based on utilitarianism, which refers to an ethical theory prioritizing the overall good for society. According to this approach, it is essential to vaccinate frontline workers and vulnerable populations to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, one must be aware of the associated dangers, such as abuse of power and vaccine inequality among countries.
References
Boyd, A. (2021). ‘They abused their authority.’ Nurse says COVID-19 vaccines given to friends of nursing home management. The Star. Web.
CDC. (2021). How CDC is making vaccine recommendations. Web.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to economic downfalls, market fluctuations, hundreds of thousands of job losses, and most importantly, millions of human lives lost. The role of each nation’s healthcare institutions is impossible to overestimate, particularly in regards to not only keeping their citizens safe but preventing the spread of the virus elsewhere. The United Arab Emirates remains one of the global leaders in terms of the government’s efficient response to the pandemic. However, even the most well-structured initiatives would not be possible without the sacrifices of the country’s medical professionals. They continue to risk their lives in an effort to help others and fulfill their duty as healthcare workers.
Despite that, the heroic actions of the UAE’s dentists do not seem to gain much of the public’s attention. There are 8 specialized dentist centers in the United Arab Emirates, all of which remain open to anyone with an emergency. Even during the pandemic, the doctors there are ready to provide high-quality care and reduce pain for anyone suffering from a dental condition. In addition, dental centers in Abu Dhabi, Khorfakkan, Ajman, Um Al Quwain, and many other regions take part in conducting swab PCR tests.
Even at the high risk of being exposed to the virus, dentists in the UAE manage to participate in medical supervision, inspection, and surveillance teams for the virus. Moreover, the staff at Um Al Quwain Dental Center manages to multi-task by both providing emergency services and being involved in the PCR testing. Thus, it is apparent that UAE dentists are true heroes that put a lot of effort into ensuring people are safe and receive high-quality care even during the global pandemic.