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Healthcare employers’ obligations

Health care workers face increased risks to themselves and those they live with when caring for patients infected with the pandemic organism. Their employers have an obligation to minimize the risks and to mitigate those that can’t be avoided.

  • The availability of health-care workers will be essential in order to provide an effective response to an influenza pandemic. Therefore, countries should develop policies that clearly delineate health-care workers’ obligations, in order to give them notice of what will be expected of them. WHO Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Professional colleges and associations should provide, by way of their codes of ethics, clear guidance to members in advance of a major communicable disease outbreak, such as pandemic flu. Existing mechanisms should be identified, or means should be developed, to inform college members as to expectations and obligations regarding the duty to provide care during a communicable disease outbreak. University of Toronto
  • It is important for health care professionals, from doctors to nurses to hospital and ambulance staff, to articulate codes or statements of ethical conduct in high-risk situations, so that everyone knows what to expect during times of communicable disease crises. University of Toronto
  • Professional colleges and associations should provide, by way of their codes of ethics, clear guidance to members in advance of a major communicable disease outbreak. Existing mechanisms should be identified, or means should be developed, to inform college members as to expectations and obligations regarding the duty to provide care during a communicable disease outbreak. University of Toronto
  • Hospital administrators should disperse clear policies regarding work to be performed, obligation to work, absenteeism and professional standards. Indiana University
  • Governments and employers should seek to minimize risks to health-care workers to the extent reasonably possible. WHO Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Policies outlining health-care workers’ obligations should ensure that health-care workers are asked to assume risks only when their participation can reasonably be expected to make a difference to the consequences of the pandemic. WHO Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Policies outlining health-care workers’ obligations should seek to distribute risks among individuals and occupational categories in an equitable manner. WHO Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Governments, professional organizations, and health-care employers should ensure that healthcare workers receive adequate education and information about the risks associated with taking care of patients, measures they can take to protect themselves and expectations regarding their duty to provide care during a pandemic. WHO Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Provide legal protections for health care providers who, during a declared public health emergency, may be asked to perform services outside of their usual realm of responsibilities or to administer interventions which are not yet scientifically validated. CDC Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Governments and the health care sector should develop human resource strategies for communicable disease outbreaks that cover the diverse occupational roles, that are transparent in how individuals are assigned to roles in the management of an outbreak, and that are equitable with respect to the distribution of risk among individuals and occupational categories. University of Toronto
  • Health care facilities should have adequate supplies of PPE and other related materials and ensure that these supplies are readily available to all critical personnel expected to interact with patients as appropriate to the situation. Indiana University
  • Health care workers, who bear a large portion of the burden of caring for the afflicted, are prioritized for protective equipment and vaccinations in order to minimize their increased risk of infection. Indiana University
  • Provide clinicians with clear and transparent screening and treatment protocols in line with the latest guidance from WHO or relevant na­tional health authorities. WHO Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Health care institutions should ensure a comprehensive program is developed and implemented to provide all health care workers with adequate training and information and their anticipated responsibilities. Indiana University
  • Hospital administrators should disperse clear policies regarding work to be performed, obligation to work, absenteeism and professional standards. Indiana University
  • Provide ongoing training in all relevant areas to the workforce. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.8.1.
  • Provide adequate institutional and professional support to enable competent performance. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.8.4.
  • Provide ethics education as a central part of public health education and ongoing training. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.8.7.
  • Provide resources for periodic education and staff training concerning ethical issues that arise throughout the organization’s work, both among staff and in the broader community. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.11.6.
  • Health-care workers’ assumption of increased risks to their health during an influenza pandemic gives rise to reciprocal obligations on the part of governments and employers. WHO Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Governments should use their best efforts to develop or strengthen benefits systems that will provide medical and social benefits to health care workers and death benefits to the family members of healthcare workers who die after exposure. WHO Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • If workers are to take high risks, there is a duty upon society, in particular on their institutions, to support them. University of Toronto
  • Governments and the health care sector should ensure that: care providers’ safety is protected at all times, and providers are able to discharge duties and receive sufficient support throughout a period of extraordinary demands; and disability insurance and death benefits are available to staff and their families adversely affected while performing their duties. University of Toronto
  • Providing legal protection and mental health services to health care workers will help to ease the disproportionate amount of burden they will bear. Indiana University
  • Providing additional security also will help to ease the burden on health care professionals, since they will be more able to perform their duties in the absence of fear. Indiana University
  • Meeting the basic needs of these workers, such as providing housing for non-local volunteers, will help to reduce stress and retain these staff members. Indiana University
  • All facilities should have the means to respond to emotional and spiritual needs of the public and professionals involved. Indiana University

 

 



What is Pandemic Ethics?

A pandemic is pervasive in scope and touches virtually every human-made system. In this dashboard, we focus on ethics in a government’s or an employer’s actions in a pandemic.

Public health ethics addresses the relationship between those governing or administrating and the population or employees they serve. They are best summarized by the Public Health Code of Ethics of the American Public Health Association.

Contact Jim Thomas