Dark Chapter of US History: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study - Essay Sample

What struck me most about the 1932 Public Health service that worked with the Tuskegee Institute, was the fact that the six hundred black men that were initially involved in the study; never knew what they got treated. And to add to that, they were lied to that it was 'Bad Blood' Treatment. It leaves the question of what happened to the 399 men of the 600 found infected with Syphilis. This paper mainly propels through my critical ideological responses.

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The study meant to last six months went for 40 years, and the men who agreed to take part in this got offered free burial insurance, a free meal, and a free medical exam. The price for this 'Free' comes at the expense of the men not knowing what they were up against and, of course, led to lots of premature deaths. The 1972 Ad subsequent advisory panel got appointed expertly by the health and science affairs assistant secretary. Following a public outcry resulting from an Associated Press Story, the men never received adequate treatment. The fact that the men's decision was not informed due to these researchers' misinformation, saying it was on a free-will basis, is inaccurate. In 1947 when Penicillin became an accepted drug for Syphilis, the researchers didn't recommend or sell drugs to their patients.

This Committee comprising nine members from the Fields of law, education, religion, medicine, labor, public affairs, and health administration concluded the study was "ethically unjustified" because the risk the participants incurred was a no way a match for the knowledge the gained from the research. A month later, in October 1972, the Assistant Secretary ended the Tuskegee Study. Two years later, a $10 Million out of court settlement got reached between the study participants and their families and the US government. The price was for compensation, and to add to that all the living participants received a lifetime medical benefits and free burial services.

Individual nurses carry blames not warranted for not attending to some patients. The truth is that the multiple duties assigned to them are complicated; they are not easy to handle if they are happening within the same period. There should be a better system-based solution for the nurses to ensure such incidents and accidents don't occur. The accusation by the charge nurse towards the individual nurse was unethical. The role of the charge nurse is to ensure the unit is well organized and disciplined. The personal nurse not asking for help was understandable since she could have been preoccupied with one duty and forgot to ask for help and attend to the other patient. The charge nurse should ensure a timely routine check to ensure all patients are being attended to and identify and prevent crises from happening and if they happen to counter them faster and reduce the impact.

The assigning of duties to nurses should base on the consideration of its practicability. There should be a standby nurse who is assigned light responsibilities to be productive. Still, her primary role is to conduct a routine regular check to ensure all patients are attended and report in case of any unexpected eventuality that might arise. Even with a busy schedule, the management should ensure that it assigns reasonable duties to every nurse who will ensure effectiveness in their duties, which will prevent a crisis, which might lead to accidents that once they occur, they are no going back. Concluding, working hours for nurses should not be extended beyond the recommended working period per day. In case the extension is warranted, the nurses should first take a rest or a break, which should be compulsory. Another way is installing CCTV Cameras at all units, which have a Central monitoring center that should get attended to at all times.

References

EBSCO Publishing (Firm), & Ovid Technologies, Inc. (1971). Nursing. Jenkintown, Pa.: Intermed Communications.

Landmark Media, Inc. (2008). Nursing. Falls Church, VA: Landmark Media.