The role nurse plays in the COVID vaccination mandate, telemedicine, and prescription drug pricing as advocates in the healthcare system. with 2 scholarly references.
Overview
On December 31, 2019, China reported a cluster of unidentified pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province (Holshue et al., 2020). Similar instances were soon reported in other nations, with the first verified case in the United States occurring on January 20, 2020. (Holshue et al., 2020). The organism that caused this pneumonia illness, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), quickly unleashed its wrath, sparking a global epidemic and unprecedented public health disaster.
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center (2020), the global confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19, the acute sickness caused by SARS-CoV-2) surpassed 50.5 million as of November 9, with over 1.2 million deaths. The statistics on confirmed cases and fatalities in the United States is among the poorest.
The epidemic is still causing enormous human misery and economical hardship, while pressuring already overcrowded health-care institutions and their staff. In addition to widespread public health measures to combat the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (e.g., social distancing, face coverings, quarantine, isolation, and enhanced sanitation), the US Department of Health and Human Services (2020) launched Operation Warp Speed (OWS) on May 15, a collaboration between the government and industry to develop, manufacture, and deliver 300 million doses of a safe and effective vaccine to the American people by January 2021 (Slaoui & Hepburn, 2020
Nurses have an important role in vaccination uptake. They devote a significant amount of time to educating patients, parents, families, and the general public about the advantages, hazards, and safety of vaccinations, as well as providing them (Deem, 2018). Despite the public’s probable reluctance to take any vaccine (e.g., influenza), health care providers (HCP), particularly nurses, continue to be the most trusted counsel and influencer of vaccination decisions (Paterson et al., 2016). Furthermore, HCPs who have been vaccinated or expect to be vaccinated are more likely to advocate immunization to their patients (Paterson et al., 2016).
