Seite - 487 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
Bild der Seite - 487 -
Text der Seite - 487 -
CHAPTER E-4
Risking It All: Providing Patient
Care and Whistleblowing During
a Pandemic
Vanessa Gruben* and Louise Bélanger-Hardy**
Abstract
In this chapter, we discuss the rights and responsibilities of health
care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, both as care providers
(part I) and as whistleblowers (part II). Health care providers have a
duty to provide care to patients during a pandemic. However, this
duty may be limited by the type of practice, the implied consent to
risks, the strength of competing duties such as family obligations, and
the need to weigh benefits to patients and potential harm to caregiv-
ers. The duty to care of regulated health professionals such as doctors
and nurses is framed by the standards of their respective professions.
In contrast, personal care workers (PSWs) are not self-regulated. This
group forms a large part of the workforce in long-term care homes
where most deaths have occurred. We believe it may be time to con-
sider whether PSWs should be self-regulating, as this could offer both
greater clarity about the standard of care to be provided to patients
during pandemics and clear disclosure standards to guide those
who wish to denounce the practices they witness. As for health care
* Vice-Dean of the English Common Law Program and Associate Professor and
a member of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of
Ottawa.
** Full Professor in the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, where she has been
Vice-Dean (1996–1999, 2013–2014, and 2020) and a member of the Centre for
Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Titel
- VULNERABLE
- Untertitel
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Autoren
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Verlag
- Ottawa Press
- Datum
- 2020
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Abmessungen
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Seiten
- 648
- Kategorien
- Coronavirus
- International