Introduction
Although Naples community in Collier County, Southwest Florida, is rather small, certain ethical and legal issues can be observed in the county. The problem is in the fact that the growth of the community’s population is a result of migration, but many migrants have no insurance, and they choose to withdraw from the expensive medical treatment while causing the spread of communicable diseases. Furthermore, a similar ethical challenge is associated with the community’s population that lives below the poverty line. Legal issues are also characteristic of the Naples community, and they are connected with the inappropriateness of conducting studies in research and technical centers. Thus, further reflection on the above-mentioned ethical and legal issues is necessary to analyze resources and programs important to address the challenges.
Ethical and Legal Issues
The low-income status of many community members and migrants causes an ethical problem of impossibility to provide treatment to people who live below the poverty line and to those persons who have no insurance to cover treatment costs. As a result, a large percent of the community’s population becomes deprived of the opportunity to receive high-quality care (Finkelman & Kenner, 2014, p. 54). Nurses face the ethical problem of addressing the spread of communicable diseases and of providing high-quality care in situations when poor and low-income patients do not consult doctors or withdraw from the necessary treatment.
The results of the assessment demonstrated that some members of the community faced the problem of being illegally involved in certain studies conducted by the local research centers. The problem is in the provision of inadequate information about the research and in a possible conflict of interests because the studies are supported by different pharmaceutical companies. The legal consequences of ignoring the code of ethics, in this case, are negative health outcomes in the community’s members and violation of the patients’ rights (Trujillo-Londirgan & Lewenson, 2013, p. 112).
Programs and Resources
Several organizations in the community work to address the identified ethical and legal issues. Thus, Collier Health Services, Inc. as a nonprofit organization works to provide certain types of services to uninsured persons. The Collier County Medical Society also provides the free medical assistance to poor members of the community. Such program as Physician Led Access Network (PLAN) not only controls the quality of provided health services but also monitors medical researches and studies in the region. Although the discussed programs are supported by the government and sponsors, their activities are not enough to address the main ethical and legal issues in the community.
Available Resources
Naples community also has the potential of using additional resources to address the discussed ethical and legal questions. In order to provide the necessary support to uninsured and poor members of the community, it is relevant to use the services provided by the Society of St. Vincent DePaul. The members of the society provide the necessary support to persons who need seeing a doctor, but cannot afford covering these costs (Upvall & Leffers, 2014, p. 38). Lawyers of the society can also provide consultancies on aspects of participating in the medical studies. In addition, Catholic Charities of Collier County provides the necessary health care assistance to the elderly and migrant population in Naples.
Conclusion
To address common ethical and legal questions in Naples community, it is important to organize the effective use of available programs and resources. Additionally, it is important to involve Catholic societies in resolving the identified issues because risks of ignoring the problems are increases in disease and mortality rates in Naples community.
References
Finkelman, A., & Kenner, C. (2014). Professional nursing concepts. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Trujillo-Londirgan, M., & Lewenson, S. B. (2013). Public health nursing: Practical population based-based care. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Upvall, M. J., & Leffers, J. (2014). Global health nursing: Building and sustaining partnerships. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co.