Question

1. Have I had personal experiences with health inequities or social injustices such as oppression? Have these inequities or social injustices influenced my well-being or the well-being of a close friend or loved one? How did the experiences make me feel? How did I deal with that situation?

2. Do I see health inequities and social injustices in my daily nursing practice? For example, do I see the oppression of vulnerable groups?

3. Are the human rights of my patients/clients being compromised or violated?

4. When I consider a practice situation in which I was concerned about the health inequities experienced by a patient/client related to their basic human rights, what did I think? What did I believe? How did I act? What might that situation have been like for the individual, family or group I was working with?

5. Do my colleagues and I talk about our experiences of health inequities or social injustices? How might our understanding of health inequities and social justice influence our nursing practice in the future?

Answer 1

Answer 1:

I have been witness to health inequity based on geographical location. The geographical location of the city from which a set of patients hailed was a slum area. The general health status of this set of patients had marked difference in comparison to the other part of the city; say a posh area of the city. The types of health problems in the patients were also suggestive of the general conditions with their area of belonging.

These types of health inequities are avoidable; however it may require a big push. For example health of people from slum depends a lot on sanitation, policy of government on slum development etc. But still the health inequities have a deep impact on public at large, including me and the people I know. A major factor is the general helplessness of an individual to change the situation by one self. This makes us sad and helpless. However, this also gives a motivation in our kind of job to take special care of slum people, when they get admitted to hospital. This also gives a sense of satisfaction that though we cannot change the situation at large, but at least we can do our small bit to make a difference.

Answer 2:

Yes there are health inequities and I have experienced these in my routine practice. A common type of oppression is experienced by economically backward strata. This group faces health inequity because of the inability to procure the best of conditions, nourishment etc. Further, this group also faces discrimination and oppression, while receiving medical services.

Answer 3:

Human rights violation in medical practice is unethical and shall not happen at all. However, if we study the demand and supply gap of medical facilities in large groups, say different nations, we can observe a relation. It can be easily pointed out that, if there is a stark gap in demand and supply of medical facilities, then there are large possibilities of human rights violation in treating patients. For example, a lack of hospital rooms or ICU rooms may result in a number of patients lying in the hospital gallery in unhygienic conditions.

Answer 4:

In a situation when I observe my patient experiencing a health inequity, related to human rights, my first response will be to correct the situation. A proper service to my patients which helps their recovery and well being is the main objective of my job. Hence, I will correct the situation for my patient. The first task will be to assess the situation and possible reasons for the inequity. The next step will be to devise ways to resolve the situation and chalk out the way forward. The next step will be to execute the plan.

Experiencing health inequity by self or by family member is quite painful. This experience further gets aggravated, when the situation cannot be solved by the family themselves. Hence, it is the duty of the medical staff to serve the patients rationally and ensuring social justice.

Answer 5:

During the course of the job, I get to share and explore health inequities and social injustices, with my colleagues. It is quite natural since any injustice has a lasting effect on the victim as well as the observers and thus, it becomes a part of our discussion automatically. During the course of these discussions, I have felt that the general thoughts about health inequities/social injustice in the nursing community are almost the same. We feel it is our duty to serve patients ensuring their dignity and well being despite their varied backgrounds. A better understanding of the health inequities and social justice paves the way for a better and impartial service to the patients.