Nursing Alcohol and Illicit Drugs

Question: Discuss about theNursingfor Alcohol and Illicit Drugs. Answer: Expectant Mothers who Abuse Alcohol and/or Illicit Drugs Should be Subject to Mandatory Reporting Requirements for Child Abuse It is obvious that if an expectant mother is abusing alcohol or other drugs, they are imposing risk to the fetus, indirectly. It has been seen that, in some cases, mothers are doing such things by knowing the consequences, but in some instances, the pregnant woman may not know the negative consequences of her drug abuse, which imposes risk to her fetus. If the reporting requirement against the women becomes mandatory, it will not ethically right action against the women in second case (Tonti-Filipini, 2011). According to the Utilitarianism, the best moral action is the one that maximizes the utility, which is related to the well-being of sentient entities. Therefore, this ethics theory depicts that, to make an action moral, it should have the best utility. However, reporting against an expectant mother, without considering her background cannot have the best utility. Historically fetus has no rights under common law, but there is a range of prosecutions, applicable to the fetuss well being. Johnstone (2016) has argued that jailing a woman for substance abuse cannot hold back the damage that have already done to the pregnant fetus. The most fatal damage usually occurs in 2-8 week of gestation, when, most of the woman are not aware of the pregnancy. In addition, a fetus is not considered as alive before 12-16 weeks, thus, human rights laws cannot be imposed upon a 2-8 weeks fetus. Therefore, to ensure the maximum utility in this context, before reporting against the accused mother, the circumstances should be considered, thus the legal step against a pregnant woman should not be mandatory. McElroy, Gopalan and Hentges (2012) claimed, Criminalizing the behavior of an expectant mother is not the solution of their substance abuse problem. Rather, the strict penalties that are applied against the woman, is likely to frighten the woman, which would reduce her adherence with the required treatment. The negative consequences of identifying the woman as a criminal may reduce her self-esteem and induce depression related symptoms, especially in case of women belonging from a low socio-economic background. Depression has a severe negative effect upon the growing fetus in the mother womb. Therefore, it can be said that, instead of punishing the woman, such moral action should be undertaken, that can make the woman understand about the negative consequences and help her to overcome the situation and think for her childs well being (Pandey Dass, 2012). According to the ethical principle beneficence, actions should be taken that will be beneficial to other person. However, if the requirement of reporting against an expectant mother becomes mandatory, at any circumstances, the pregnant woman would have to undergo legal process, which would not be a beneficiary action for the woman Longinaker Terplan (2014). Thus, the action wound not follows the ethical principle at all. Therefore, it can be said that, to follow the principle of beneficence, instead of taking legal action against the woman, government should incorporate programs for characterizing the unitary interest of a woman and the fetus, through which the unique biological relationship can be protected. For instance, counseling, rehabilitation and other supportive active should be taken to rectify the fault, instead of considering them as criminal. Reference List Johnstone, M. (2016). Bioethics : A Nursing Perspective. (6th Ed.). Chatswood, NSW: Elsevier. Longinaker, N., Terplan, M. (2014). Effect of criminal justice mandate on drug treatment completion in women. The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse, 40(3), 192-199. McElroy, R., Gopalan, N., Hentges, J. (2012). Ethical Considerations of Alcohol Use on Infants and Children. Ethics Critical Thinking Journal, 2012(2). Pandey, S. K., Dass, D. (2012). Drugs of Physical Harm in Pregnancy: Nature Vs Nurture-A Silent Battle. Tonti-Filipini, N. (2011). About bioethics: Philosophical and theological approaches. Ballan: Connor Court Publishing.