Drafting Your Abstract Your Topic Area: The COVID-19 Pandemic DRAFTING THE ABSTRACT Part 1 - State the healthcare issue/topic & problem The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) broke out in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. The disease was caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The COVID-19 disease has so far killed more than 3 million deaths and infected more than 100 million people globally, resulting in a catastrophe and the WHO's declaration of a global pandemic in March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a new public health crisis with its emergence and fast spread. In 2003, a homologous virus, SARS-CoV, caused hundreds of deaths. Both viruses are spread similarly and have almost similar symptoms. COVID-19 is highly transmissive and affects the elderly members of society more than the youth. The disease has become a significant health problem globally, causing severe acute respiratory illness and spreading rapidly worldwide. Part 2 - Explain the methods/procedures/approaches This paper employs the qualitative research method to explain the facts about the COVID-19 disease and pandemic. Resources used for the research include the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) websites, and other peer-reviewed articles. Part 3 - Reveal your results and findings (understandings from inquiry papers) The disease's incidence continues to increase globally, with new cases and deaths being reported every day. This has forced governments to adopt various social distancing measures and hygienic precautions to limit the human-to-human transmission of the disease. While there is currently no specific treatment for the disease, various companies have stepped up research to develop vaccines—the WHO advocates for people to receive two COVID-19 doses for better and longer-lasting protection against the disease. However, various concerns have arisen recently as people complain of various side effects and deaths after getting the vaccine. Scientists have explained that experiencing side effects exhibits the immune system's response to the vaccine, but many questions are still unanswered. Besides, some governments have rejected vaccines from some companies prompting people to wonder what the vaccine components are and why the specific countries would reject them. Part 4 - Disclose/expose your concluding solution This article will cover the basics of the COVID-19 pandemic and develop research to develop new vaccines and treatments for the disease. Although many questions are still unanswered concerning the virus and disease, this review will help create a better understanding. Running Head: CULTURAL AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF INQUIRY 1 Cultural and Ethical Perspective of Inquiry 05/09/21 CULTURAL AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF INQUIRY 2 Introduction Many patients face the change of making informed consent for their treatment care and plan due to the lack of sufficient information relating to their illness and health conditions. Nonetheless, it is the responsibility of healthcare providers and organizations to educate patients about their health conditions and then provide them with all the necessary information they require to make informed consent. In the recent case of the novel Corona Virus pandemic, many patients were confused on how to make informed decisions due to the scanty information that was available about the virus. The virus spread fast and became a pandemic and kept on mutating and showing different signs and symptoms in patients depending on patient demographic characteristics. As a result, patients and healthcare providers, and organizations lacked sufficient information to guide informed decision-making among patients during care delivery. This paper will examine ethical questions of informed consent, professional relationship between the physician and the patient, and regulatory compliance and medical malpractice as they relate to the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Ethical Perspective What laws govern or pertain to Covid-19 The ethical question of the appropriate laws about Covid-19 includes the need for a healthcare professional to understand the basic principles that guide them when caring for Covid19 patients. It is the legal requirement that healthcare professionals educate their patients on the treatment and care plan they are just about to get. Healthcare providers are obliged to give patients sufficient information about all medication, drugs, and treatments pan including adverse effects, benefits, and alternative routes of treatment so that patient makes informed consent CULTURAL AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF INQUIRY 3 before they get the medication (Erwin et al., 2020). However, patients have no legal basis for treating strangers because they owe all patients the duty of care. The legal obligation of maintaining a patient-physician relationship with the patient enables healthcare providers to create a reasonable expectation for treatment. This relationship ends when the healthcare provider hands the patient over to the next healthcare provider. The laws on professional negligence protect the patients against medical errors and malpractice that healthcare professionals may engage in, either intentionally or unintentionally. What ethical obstacles affect how the medical community addresses Covid-19? During the period of handling Covid-19 patients, one of the ethical obstacles that affected the medical community's address is patient autonomy. Covid-19 being a novel virus, posed a major challenge to the healthcare community on determining the best treatment and care plan for patients while at the same time observing the autonomy of patients to give informed consent on the treatments plan and care options they would prefer administered on them. Balancing the emergency need of Covid-19 patients in critical care condition and their incapacity to make informed-decision in this situation put the medical community in the dilemma of addressing the pandemic (Blot et al., 2020). With many Covid-19 patients experiencing difficulty communicating due to the shortness of breath and emergency need for oxygen supplement, it becomes a major change for the medical community to make professional judgments while respecting the patients' autonomy. How do Ethical Theories apply to Covid-19? The provision of care and treatment for Covid-19 patients requires ethical conduct and practice among healthcare professionals. Healthcare providers are required to make informed judgments on the best treatment option to give every patient based on their knowledge, training, CULTURAL AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF INQUIRY 4 and expertise. Before making any decision regarding treatment for Covid-19 patients, healthcare professionals are required to uphold fidelity, empathy, prudence, and public-spiritedness (Blot et al., 2020). Healthcare providers are supposed to be guided by their professional codes of conduct and ethical guidelines of their professional practices so that they do not harm, always provide care to the Covid-19 patients and strive to help the patients get the best care that will result in quality patient’s outcome. How do money, power, and control matters relate to Covid-19 and its treatments? Issues of money, power, and control relate to Covid-19 and its treatments. They influence the decision-making process on behalf of the patient and access specialized care such as admission into ICU and placement on oxygen supplements. Availability of money, the power that surrogates wield on their patients, and the control that the families have on the patient and the healthcare organization will determine the nature of treatment and acre the Covid-19 patient gets (Blot et al., 2020). A power of attorney is critical in informed-decision making, and healthcare providers need to understand that the people with such power understand the status of the Covid-19 patient. Sometimes healthcare providers may exploit patients if they discover that they come from wealthy families by charging exorbitant prices for critical care such as admission to ICU and oxygen supplements. Cultural Perspective of Inquiry Which cultural values or norms influence Covid-19? Given that Covid-19 is a novel virus that has only a vaccine. Still, no cure, cultural values, and norms such as the use of traditional concoctions and rituals to cure the illness have dominated the treatment care for patients with the virus. Many patients and their families have refused to believe that the disease exists and always equate it to the normal flu. Some have even CULTURAL AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF INQUIRY 5 questioned the need to go to hospitals, yet there is no cure for the virus. Others have questioned its existence claiming that it is a theory that is a demand to interfere with the cultural values and norms of socializing and engaging in traditional ceremonies and rituals that have become part of the human lifestyle (Bruns et al., 2020). The cultural values and norms have influenced treatment and acre for Covid-19 in that each culture has a different perspective on the cause and treatments for the disease. Thus, the number of patients turning up for tests and vaccination is few and depends on their cultural values and norms about the virus. How is Covid-19 addressed differently in varying cultural contexts and situations? Every country has its unique approach to addressing Covid-19 depending on the situation on the ground and the cultural context in which the country is situated. However, the common approach is the cessation of movement, ban on social gatherings, as well as the closure of bars, restaurants, and other social amenities such as religious institutions. Other ways that different cultures are addressing Covid-19 are testing and vaccinating citizens, encouraging the use of masks, hand washing, and staying at home. Globally, air travel has been banned to reduce the spread of the virus through contact. The different variants of Covid-19 that have been reported in different parts of the world have led to different approaches to containment measures in different cultural contexts and situations (Maldonado-Castellanos, 2020). Depending on the severity of the Covid-19 and surge or positivity rate, different countries have put in place different measures and relaxed them or made them more stringent to curb further spread or respond to a decline in the positivity rate. Raising awareness, civic education, mass testing, and vaccination are the major approaches used to address Covid-19 under different cultural contexts and situations globally. Which cultures or societies are most affected by the Covid-19? Why? CULTURAL AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF INQUIRY 6 The Asian, Whites, and Europeans are the major cultures that have been most affected by Covid-19. Looking at the number of positive cases reported in American, European, and Asian countries compared to African countries shows that the first three cultures and societies have been the most affected by this issue. Perhaps the older age, climate, and lifestyle of these societies increased their risk of being predisposed to Covid-19, which is a respiratory infection. Among the major factors that have increased the risks of these cultures to Covid-19 are obesity, old age, smoking, and a high prevalence of chronic infections such as high blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes, and respiratory diseases. Which cultural traditions affect the treatment(s)? Covid-19 patients are mostly incapacitated to decide their preferences, values, and medical assistance they need because they can neither speak nor give written consent. The inaccurate information coming from the patients and the misunderstanding of information about Covid-19 prognosis among healthcare providers create a dilemma in balancing professional judgment and patient autonomy (Bruns et al., 2020). Surrogates' decision on behalf of the patients is always based on emotions, personal relationships, and availability of financial resources that further complicates the treatment process. Conclusion In the recent case of the novel Corona Virus pandemic, many patients were confused on how to make informed decisions due to the scanty information that was available about the virus. Addressing the ethical issues, legal hurdles, and cultural barriers that prevents access to Covid19 treatment is integral in increasing access to quality treatment. Therefore, there is a need to educate patients with Covid-19 and their families on the significance of seeking modern treatment whenever they show Covid-19 symptoms to save their lives. CULTURAL AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF INQUIRY 7 References Blot, F., Dumont, S. N., Vigouret-Viant, L., Verotte, N., Rossignol, J., Rieutord, A., ... & Altea, A. (2020). Ethical issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with cancer: experience and organizations in a French comprehensive cancer center. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. Bruns, D. P., Kraguljac, N. V., & Bruns, T. R. (2020). COVID-19: Facts, Cultural Considerations, and Risk of Stigmatization. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 31(4), 326332. Erwin, C., Aultman, J., Harter, T., Illes, J., & Kogan, R. C. J. (2020). Rural and remote communities: unique ethical issues in the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Journal of Bioethics, 20(7), 117-120. Maldonado-Castellanos, I. (2020). Ethical issues when planning mental health services after the COVID-19 outbreak. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 54, 102285. January 25, 2020 the first case of Corona virus was discovered in Orange County, California. This had now become one of the first three cases in the United States. Ever since then the entire world has been experiencing the effects of the lockdown which started to take place on the 16th of March 2020. Now as I’m writing this paper on the 10th of April, 2021 we are barely started to shift from being in lockdown for more than a year (Staff). For some, like myself, I was so ready to finally be allowed to go out and sit to eat, go get haircuts, and things of that nature. The purpose of me writing about Covid-19 is to be able to truly understand all there is to know about the cause of a global pandemic. How did it spread throughout the entire world so quickly? Was there a mutation from when it came from Wuhan, China? How is it that some places are recovering more quickly than others? Why are there so many discrepancies from place to place? Obviously, we all know the relevancy of Covid-19. It’s been around for a while and I think that it’s never going to go away. I want to help prevent this disease from creating a new strain and coming back for another round, which according to the rumors is happening as we speak. People are still getting sick, people are still dying, people are still questioning the disease all together. Some people are getting the vaccine, some people aren’t. Why? I want to understand what exactly is in the vaccine and how it was developed so quickly. How if the different vaccines are meant to do the same thing there are so many discrepancies between each vaccine. Some people are dying right after getting the vaccine. According to, mynbc15.com, “A 39-year-old Utah mom with no underlying health conditions died 4 days after receiving her second dose of the Moderna vaccine.” What caused her to die? Why did it happen right after she got the vaccine? So many un answered questions. The public is scared and nobody really knows what is going on. I feel like the entire world would benefit if we actually knew what was going on. Like myself a lot of people are confused and left wondering and worried. The government is not giving anybody answers that they want and need and I’m here to help clarify that for myself and those who read my paper. Sources Patel, J. (2021, March 12). Death of Healthy mom after COVID VACCINATION under investigation. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://mynbc15.com/news/coronavirus/death-of-healthy-mom-after-covid-vaccine-underinvestigation Staff, C. (2020, May 13). Timeline: California reacts to coronavirus. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://calmatters.org/health/coronavirus/2020/04/gavin-newsom-coronavirusupdates-timeline/#First%20case%20of%20COVID-19%20in%20California
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