NURSING STUDENT'S VIEWS ON THE DUTY OF CARE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN TWO COUNTRIES

Background: The shortage of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic made it necessary to recruit nursing students to provide care. Although research suggests that the care that students provided was invaluable, their views on ethical concerns and dilemmas related to the duty of care remain unexplored.Objectives: Using predefined hypotheses, a cross-sectional study was conducted to explore students' well-being and views on the duty of care.Method: Between May and June 2020, Chilean and Spanish nursing students participated in a web-based survey, including the 5-Item WHO Well-Being Index (WHO-5) and views on the duty of care reported through a scale related to beliefs about pandemics. Student's t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, χ2 tests, and multivariable log-linear analysis were used to explore differences between nursing students in Spain and Chile and to examine the relationships between categorical variables.Results: Students (N = 183) from both countries self-reported low levels of psychological well-being (WHO-5, M = 10.8, SD = 4.3). Concerning ethical statements, although most students from both countries (71%) agreed that nurses and doctors have a duty of care, significant differences were found concerning the statement that every healthcare worker has a duty to work during a health emergency (39% agreement in Chile and 74% in Spain;p < 0.001).Conclusions: Students reported emotional and ethical challenges associated with the pandemic. Besides receiving help to deal with ethical challenges and given that a significant proportion of students from both countries reported low well-being, we recommend developing strategies to mitigate and enhance students' well-being.

Online safeguarding and personal cyber skills for students

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven universities to deliver education online, making use of digital platforms for both formal and informal learning. This move has accelerated concerns regarding institutions' capabilities to protect students from online abuse and support those who fall victim to its many forms. Empirical data drawn from UK universities prior to the pandemic highlight the lack of policy and practice across the university sector around both awareness of, and support from, online abuse among the student body. Further concerns during the pandemic, which highlight failures not just of safeguarding policy, but cybersecurity practice, demonstrate the need for universities to not only recognise their duty of care regarding student welfare but also to provide training and education for all, making use of online and hybrid higher education. © 2022 by Andy Phippen and Emma Bond.

El cierre de los centros educativos durante la pandemia. Un análisis sobre la brecha de género, la interseccionalidad y el derecho a los cuidados

Diferentes estudios realizados durante la pandemia de la COVID-19 confirman que la crisis sanitaria ensanchará la brecha de género y profundizará la crisis global de los cuidados. El cierre de los centros educativos y su paso a la virtualización supuso la transferencia directa a las familias y, en particular a las mujeres, de la responsabilidad de la atención, aprendizaje y el acompañamiento de los niños y niñas en etapa escolar. Una medida política sanitaria que se apoyó en los roles tradicionales de género, propició la re-familiarización de tareas educativas y de cuidado que normalmente asume el Estado o el mercado y, añadió, una sobrecarga de trabajo para las mujeres;quienes debieron hacerse cargo, de manera gratuita, de la provisión del bienestar de las familias. Si bien, esta situación afectó a la mayoría de las mujeres, no todas ellas lo vivieron de la misma manera. Para las mujeres migrantes, responsables de familias monoparentales y/o trabajadoras precarias o informales de la economía, la intersección de las desigualdades de género, clase y origen agudizó la carga de trabajo reproductivo y el costo personal de la reclusión de la infancia en los hogares. A partir de esta constatación, este artículo, busca iniciar una reflexión que permita poner en el centro del debate la reflexión, moral y política, sobre el deber de cuidar y el derecho a ser cuidado;poniendo énfasis en el papel del Estado y la escuela en la construcción de un sistema de corresponsabilidad de los cuidados, como un asunto de justicia social y de género.Alternate abstract:Diferents estudis duts a terme durant la pandemia de la COVID-19 confirmen que la crisi sanitaria eixamplara la bretxa degenere i aprofundirâ la crisi global de les cures. El tancament deis centres educatius i el seu pas a la virtualització va suposar la transferencia directa a les families, i en particular a les dones, de la responsabilitat de l'atenció, l'aprenentatge i l'acompanyament dels nens i les nenes en etapa escolar. Una mesura política sanitaria que es va recolzar en els rols tradicionāls de genere, va propiciar la re-familiarització de tasques educatives i de cura que normalment assumeix l'Estat o el mērcat, i va afegir una sobrecarrega de trebali pera les dones, que van haver defer-se carree, de manera gratuita, de la provisió del benestar de les families. Si bé aquesta situació va afectar la majoria de les dones, no totes elles ho van viure de la mateixa manera. Per a les dones migrants, responsables de families monoparentals o treballadores precâries o informáis de ľeconomia, la interseccióde lesdesigualtats degenere, classe i origen va aguditzar la carrega de trebali reproductiu i el cost personal de la reclusió de la infancia a les Hars. A partir d'aquesta constatació, aquest article busca iniciar una reflexió que permeti posar al centre del debat la reflexió, moral i política, sobre el deure de cuidar i el dret a les cures, posant émfasi en el paper de l'Estat i l'escola en la construcció d'un sistema de corresponsabilitat de les cures, com a assumpte de justícia social i de genere.Alternate abstract:Various studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic confirm that the health crisis will widen the gender gap and deepen the global care crisis. The fact that schools closed and went online meantfamilies (especially women in them) were responsible for their children's regard of education, learning and support at school. A health policy measure that relied on traditional gender roles fostered the refamiliarisation of educational and care tasks that were normally assumed by the state or the market and added a workoverload to women, who had to take charge of the provision of welfare in their families without being paid. Although this situation affected most women, not all of them experienced it in the same way. For migrant women, who are heads of single-parent families and/or precarious or informal workers, the intersection of gender, class and origin inequalities exacerbated the reproductive workload and th personal cost of incarcerating children in households. From this observation, the article seeks to consider the debate on moral and political reflection on the duty to care and the right to be taken care of;it emphasizes the role that the state and school have to constructa system of co-responsible care, as this is a matter concerning social and gender justice.

Nurses' Perceptions of Ethical Conflicts When Caring for Patients with COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused ethical challenges and dilemmas in care decisions colliding with nurses' ethical values. This study sought to understand the perceptions and ethical conflicts faced by nurses working on the frontline during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and the main coping strategies. A qualitative phenomenological study was carried out following Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews until data saturation. The theoretical sample included 14 nurses from inpatient and intensive care units during the first and second waves of the pandemic. An interview script was used to guide the interviews. Data were analyzed following Giorgi's phenomenological method using Atlas-Ti software. Two themes were identified: (1) ethical conflicts on a personal and professional level; and (2) coping strategies (active and autonomous learning, peer support and teamwork, catharsis, focusing on care, accepting the pandemic as just another work situation, forgetting the bad situations, valuing the positive reinforcement, and humanizing the situation). The strong professional commitment, teamwork, humanization of care, and continuous education have helped nurses to deal with ethical conflicts. It is necessary to address ethical conflicts and provide psychological and emotional support for nurses who have experienced personal and professional ethical conflicts during COVID-19.

Duty of Care: Consular Diplomacy Response of Baltic and Nordic Countries to COVID-19

Declaring the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 left thousands of travellers stranded, propelling consular work to the forefront, and testing governments' capacity to aid their nationals abroad. While all consular departments provided assistance and duty of care (DoC) through information and guidance, some were reactive while others were proactive, and some were willing to make exceptions and engage in pastoral care. Analysis of the Baltic and Nordic countries' reactions to the initial outbreak of COVID-19 shows us how DoC diverged in practice, and to note the transition of consular affairs into consular diplomacy and its interplay with facets of digital, citizen-centric and diaspora diplomacy. The conclusion is that all eight countries exceeded normal consular practice and exhibited some level of pastoral DoC, with Latvia and Lithuania exhibiting high levels of pastoral care. In parallel, Lithuania and Denmark, in their responses, effectively incorporated innovative elements of digital and diaspora diplomacy. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022.

Vulnerability, Moral responsibility, and Moral Obligations: the case of Industrial Action in the Medical and Allied Professions.

The article addresses issues at the nexus of physician industrial action, moral agency, and responsibility. There are situations in which we find ourselves best placed to offer aid to those who may be in vulnerable positions, a behavior that is consistent with our everyday moral intuitions. In both our interpersonal relationships and social life, we make frequent judgments about whether to praise or blame someone for their actions when we determine that they should have acted to help a vulnerable person. While the average person is unlikely to confront these kinds of situations often, those in the medical professions, physicians especially, may confront these and similar situations regularly. Therefore, when physicians withhold their services for whatever reason in support of industrial action, it raises issues of moral responsibility to patients who may be in a vulnerable position. Using theories of moral responsibility, vulnerability, and ethics, this paper explores the moral implications of physician industrial action. We explore issues of vulnerability of patients, as well as the moral responsibility and moral agency of doctors to patients. Determining when a person is vulnerable, and when an individual becomes a moral agent, worthy of praise or blame for an act or non-action, is at the core of the framework. Notwithstanding the right of physicians to act in their self-interest, we argue that vulnerability leads to moral obligations, that physicians are moral agents, and the imperatives of their obligations to patients clear, even if limited by certain conditions. We suggest that both doctors and governments have a collective responsibility to prevent harm to patients and present the theoretical and practical implications of the paper.

Trauma mitigation for the workforce: A conceptual framework applied in COVID-19 pandemic conditions

The sudden and protracted emergency stemming from the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents potential exposures, or exacerbations, of psychological trauma to workforces. Organizationally significant traumatic stress warrants the trauma-informed attention of emergency managers wishing to protect the well-being of responders and prevent performance breakdowns. This study focuses on interventions that can be applied at the organizational level without the need for specially trained clinicians. We first provide a rapid review of design principles intended to provide safe, ethical, and efficacious interventions that utilize informational and social learning principles. Next, we present a conceptual framework, drawing from the disaster management and clinical trauma evidence base, targeted to build proactive workplace programs for trauma mitigation. Duty of care and shared responsibility are discussed as a way to balance obligations and burdens of operating in milieus characterized by psychological trauma. Assuming that clinically significant trauma is handled by established systems of mental healthcare, the five case studies in this study demonstrate how empirical findings support program elements to address subclinical trauma in emergency managers and responders across sectors. © 2022 Weston Medical Publishing. All rights reserved.

Duty of care for business travel: how do employers assess and manage business travel risk?

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the risk factors that employers consider when assessing an employee’s business travel (BT) assignment and the risk treatment, crisis response and recovery strategies they use to discharge their BT duty of care. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory approach is taken with in-depth interviews of 21 executives, travel managers and insurance brokers involved with the management of BT in four international hotel groups. In all, 12 follow-up interviews were conducted to assess the possible COVID-19 impact on BT risk management processes. Findings: Employers assess BT assignments considering the travel’s characteristics, including the destination’s risk profile against seven types of risks (health, political, transport, natural, crime, technology and kidnap), length of stay, travel mode and activities undertaken in the destination as well as the traveler’s profile which includes diversity and travel experience. Accordingly, they develop a range of duty of care strategies for BT risk treatment, crisis response and recovery. Practical implications: BT practitioners can use the proposed framework to develop risk assessment methodologies based on more accurate destination and traveler profiles and pursue targeted risk treatment strategies and insurance policies. The proposed duty of care approach can be used as a blueprint for organizations to design and manage BT policies. Originality/value: BT risk is an under-researched area. The extant research looks predominantly at travel risks and their assessment taking the traveler’s perspective. This study looks at business travel risk and explores it from an employer’s risk management perspective offering a BT risk assessment framework and a BT duty of care plan. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

COVID-19 and involuntary detention: An emergency medicine or emergency management responsibility?

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown up innumerable challenges throughout the world, especially evident in the healthcare system. In emergency medicine, there is a new urgency around the clinical and ethical dilemmas clinicians face as they make decisions that impact upon the lives of their patients. Emergency clinicians are accustomed to upholding duty of care and acting in the best interests of patients. Clinical judgements are made every day about a patient's capacity to make their own decisions and act with free will. It is foreseeable that a duty of care owed to a patient may be in conflict with the responsibility to the health and safety of a community. What is particularly fraught for clinicians is the lack of clarity around this potential duty of care to the community, and navigating the potential conflict with duty of care to the patient. How much danger does the community need to be in, and how definable, imminent and specific does that risk need to be? An attempt to protect the community may well constitute either a breach of confidentiality or a breach of duty of care. This paper will explore the complex issues of respect for autonomy and the principle of non-maleficence, in the setting of COVID-19 and public health orders and illustrate the uncomfortable uncertainty that exists surrounding care of some of the most vulnerable patients in the community when their actions are contrary to public health recommendations.

Mandatory vaccination what about students?

For nursing students, duty of care can be applied to those they care for as well as a wider duty to public and society based on the following premises: * Nursing students have a duty of care to protect the vulnerable. * COVID-19 is a serious threat to public health and the vulnerable. * Vaccination is a safe and effective way to protect against COVID-19 transmission. [...]nursing students must be vaccinated against COVID-19. In New Zealand, mandatory vaccination of nursing students has implications for an individual's right to refuse medical treatment in defence of the "greater good".56 More than merely having self-choice, the principle of autonomy encompasses an obligation to respect autonomy., and, in health care, an obligation to inform in order for individual autonomy to be respected.56 Knowledge and understanding are key to informed decision-making.6 For nursing students, respecting their autonomy includes being able to make knowledgeable decisions, and acting within their scope of practice. What is known is the significant health risk for someone contracting COVID-19, and a potential for ongoing health issues once recovered.9 There is precedent for mandatory vaccination for COVID-19 especially in the circumstance of no herd immunity where non-immunised individuals may pose a threat to the overall effectiveness of a vaccine to the public10 The best outcome for mandatory vaccination would be to provide expert information while listening to and answering concerns. Areas with high uptake by health professionals of influenza vaccines have reduced the severity of influenza and influenza-like infections in long-term care facilities.n Therefore it is reasonable to expect a similar high COVID-19 vaccination uptake will reduce transmission and seriousness of COVID-19 symptoms in the most vulnerable.

Understanding uptake of prevention and mitigation of COVID-19 at work actions in Iran.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has required organizations to make changes to ways of working to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 in employees. OBJECTIVE: To assess the workplace response to COVID-19 in Iran. METHODS: 255 organizations completed a two-part survey. Part 1 collected data describing the business; part 2 comprised the International Labor Organization (ILO) 30-item Prevention and Mitigation of COVID-19 at Work Actions Checklist. A four-point Likert scale was used to score each item according to whether preventative measures had been actioned. RESULTS: We found a dichotomy of commitment to managing COVID-19 at work. 42.5%of organizations had fully implemented the ILO recommended preventative actions, and 45.6%workplaces had not implemented any. Large organizations had significantly more preventative actions than SMEs; the healthcare sector had significantly better COVID-19 mitigation measures in place than construction projects; and organizations with a health and safety management system had significantly more prevention actions in place. CONCLUSIONS: ILO provided a good framework to support risk assessment of COVID-19, however only half the organizations were undertaking the necessary biological hazard control actions to prevent COVID-19 at work. There remains a need to understand the inaction of organizations who do not risk assess despite being in a pandemic.

Student nurses' ethical views on responses to the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak.

BACKGROUND: Fifteen years have passed since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong. At that time, there were reports of heroic acts among professionals who cared for these patients, whose bravery and professionalism were highly praised. However, there are concerns about changes in new generation of nursing professionals. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine the attitude of nursing students, should they be faced with severe acute respiratory syndrome patients during their future work. RESEARCH DESIGN: A questionnaire survey was carried out to examine the attitude among final-year nursing students to three ethical areas, namely, duty of care, resource allocation, and collateral damage. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: This study was carried out in accordance with the requirements and recommendations of the Central Research and Ethics Committee, School of Health Sciences at Caritas Institute of Higher Education. FINDINGS: Complete responses from 102 subjects were analyzed. The overwhelming majority (96.1%) did not agree to participate in the intubation of severe acute respiratory syndrome patients if protective measures, that is, N95 mask and gown, were not available. If there were insufficient N95 masks for all the medical, nursing, and allied health workers in the hospital (resource allocation), 37.3% felt that the distribution of N95 masks should be by casting lot, while the rest disagreed. When asked about collateral damage, more than three-quarters (77.5%) said that severe acute respiratory syndrome patients should be admitted to intensive care unit. There was sex difference in nursing students' attitude toward severe acute respiratory syndrome care during pregnancy and influence of age in understanding intensive care unit care for these patients. Interestingly, 94.1% felt that there should be a separate intensive care unit for severe acute respiratory syndrome patients. CONCLUSION: As infection control practice and isolation facilities improved over the years, relevant knowledge and nursing ethical issues related to infectious diseases should become part of nursing education and training programs, especially in preparation for outbreaks of infectious diseases or distress.

The Healthcare Sector Employer's Duty of Care: Implications for Worker Well-Being.

Pandemic diseases of this century have differentially targeted healthcare workers globally. These infections include Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SARS, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and Ebola. The COVID-19 pandemic has continued this pattern, putting healthcare workers at extreme risk. Just as healthcare workers have historically been committed to the service of their patients, providing needed care, termed their "duty of care", so too do healthcare employers have a similar ethical duty to provide care toward their employees arising from historical common law requirements. This paper reports on results of a narrative review performed to assess COVID-19 exposure and disease development in healthcare workers as a function of employer duty of care program elements adopted in the workplace. Significant duty of care deficiencies reported early in the pandemic most commonly involved lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) availability. Beyond worker safety, we also provide evidence that an additional benefit of employer duty of care actions is a greater sense of employee well-being, thus aiding in the prevention of healthcare worker burnout.

Nurses' challenges, concerns and unfair requirements during the COVID-19 outbreak.

BACKGROUND: During disease outbreaks, nurses express concerns regarding the organizational and social support required to manage role conflicts. OBJECTIVES: The study examined concerns, threats, and attitudes relating to care provision during the COVID-19 outbreak among nurses in Israel. DESIGN: A 53-item questionnaire was designed for this research, including four open-ended questions. The article used a qualitative research to analyze the responses to the open-ended questions and their association with responses to the close-ended ones. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: In all, 231 registered nurses and fourth-year nursing students throughout the whole country. The questionnaire was delivered in nursing Facebook and WhatsApp groups and through snowball sampling. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The research was pre-approved by the Ethics Committee at the researchers' university. RESULTS: Nurses mostly referred to personal risk, followed by dilemmas regarding care provision. On average, 38.6% of quotations stated that during the pandemic, nurses are not asked to perform unfair duties. Nurses discussed activities and requirements that impact their personal and familial safety, their relationship with employer, organization or the state, and their duty to providing care. Other than fear of contraction, respondents' most frequent themes of concerns were related to work condition and patients' interests, inter-collegiate relationships, and uncertainty and worries about the future. Respondents' ethical dilemmas mostly referred to clinical questions, providing care without adequate equipment or managerial support, and in conditions of uncertainty and increased risk. DISCUSSION: Nurses raise important issues concerning their relationships with employers and family members, and significant insights regarding the pandemic and their revised responsibilities and definition of work. They raise serious concerns regarding their rights at work and their standing for them. CONCLUSIONS: Health managers should find ways to enhance the ethical climate and institutional support to enable a better work-life balance in times of pandemic and support nurses' working needs and labor rights.

Duty versus distributive justice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in inadequately prioritized healthcare systems in low- and middle-income countries such as Kenya. In this prolonged pandemic, nurses and midwives working at the frontline face multiple ethical problems, including their obligation to care for their patients and the risk for infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Despite the frequency of emergencies in Africa, there is a paucity of literature on ethical issues during epidemics. Furthermore, nursing regulatory bodies in African countries such as Kenya have primarily adopted a Western code of ethics that may not reflect the realities of the healthcare systems and cultural context in which nurses and midwives care for patients. In this article, we discuss the tension between nurses' and midwives' duty of care and resource allocation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is an urgent need to clarify nurses' and midwives' rights and responsibilities, especially in the current political setting, limited resources, and ambiguous professional codes of ethics that guide their practice.

Healthcare Professional Standards in Pandemic Conditions: The Duty to Obtain Consent to Treatment.

In the United Kingdom, the question of how much information is required to be given to patients about the benefits and risks of proposed treatment remains extant. Issues about whether healthcare resources can accommodate extended shared decision-making processes are yet to be resolved. COVID-19 has now stepped into this arena of uncertainty, adding more complexity. U.K. public health responses to the pandemic raise important questions about professional standards regarding how the obtaining and recording of consent might change or be maintained in such emergency conditions, particularly in settings where equipment, medicines, and appropriately trained or specialized staff are in short supply. Such conditions have important implications for the professional capacity and knowledge available to discuss the risks and benefits of and alternatives to proposed treatment with patients. The government's drive to expedite the recruitment to wards of medical students nearing the end of their studies, as well as inviting retired practitioners back into practice, raises questions about the ability of such healthcare providers to engage fully in shared decision-making.This article explores whether the legal duty on healthcare practitioners to disclose the material risks of a proposed medical treatment to a patient should be upheld during pandemic conditions or whether the pre-eminence of patient autonomy should be partly sacrificed in such exceptional circumstances. We argue that measures to protect public health and to respect autonomous decision-making are not mutually exclusive and that there are good reasons to maintain professional standards in obtaining consent to treatment even during acute pressures on public health systems.

Ethical dilemmas, perceived risk, and motivation among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Positioned at the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19 disease, nurses are at increased risk of contraction, yet as they feel obligated to provide care, they also experience ethical pressure. RESEARCH QUESTION AND OBJECTIVES: The study examined how Israeli nurses respond to ethical dilemmas and tension during the COVID-19 outbreak, and to what extent this is associated with their perceived risk and motivation to provide care? RESEARCH DESIGN: The study implemented a descriptive correlative study using a 53-section online questionnaire, including 4 open-ended questions. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: The questionnaire was complete by 231 registered and intern nurses after being posted on nurses' Facebook and WhatsApp groups, and through snowball sampling. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The research was pre-approved by the ethics committee of the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences at the University of Haifa, Israel. FINDINGS: In all, 68.8% of the respondents had received some form of training about COVID-19. Respondents positioned themselves at perceived high risk levels for contracting the virus. About one-third feared going to work because of potential contraction and due to feeling inadequately protected. While 40.9% were scared to care for COVID-19 patients, 74.7% did not believe they have the right to refuse to treat certain patients. When asked about defining an age limit for providing patients with scarce resources (such as ventilation machines) in cases of insufficient supplies, respondents stated that the maximum age in such scenarios should be 84 (standard deviation (SD = 19) - yet most respondents (81.4%) believed that every patient has the right to receive optimal treatment, regardless of their age and medical background. DISCUSSION: Correlating with their strong commitment to care, nurses did not convey intention to leave the profession despite their stress, perceived risk, and feelings of insufficient support and protection at work. The nurses did not hold a utilitarian approach to resource allocation, thereby acknowledging the value of all people and their entitlement to care, regardless of optimal outcomes. CONCLUSION: While experiencing significant personal risk and emotional burden, nurses conveyed strong dedication to providing care, and did not regret working in the nursing profession, yet they did seek a supportive climate for their needs and ethical concerns.

Legal Implications of Personal Protective Equipment Use When Treating Patients for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2).

Front-line health care personnel, including anaesthetists, otolaryngologists, and other health professionals dealing with acute cases of coronavirus, face a high risk of infection and thus mortality. The scientific evidence establishes that to protect them, hospital protocols should require that wearing of the highest levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) be available for doctors and nurses performing aerosol-generating procedures, such as intubation, sputum induction, open suctioning of airways, bronchoscopy, etc. of COVID-19 patients. Although several international bodies have issued recommendations for a very high-level PPE to be used when these procedures are undertaken, the current PPE guidelines in Australia have tended to be more relaxed, and hospital authorities relying on them might not comply with legal obligations to their employee health care workers. Failure to provide high-level PPE in many hospitals is of concern for a large number of health care workers; this article examines the scientific literature on the topic and provides a legal perspective on hospital authorities' possible liability in negligence.

Understanding Ethical and Legal Obligations in a Pandemic: A Taxonomy of "Duty" for Health Practitioners.

From the ethics perspective, "duty of care" is a difficult and contested term, fraught with misconceptions and apparent misappropriations. However, it is a term that clinicians use frequently as they navigate COVID-19, somehow core to their understanding of themselves and their obligations, but with uncertainty as to how to translate or operationalize this in the context of a pandemic. This paper explores the "duty of care" from a legal perspective, distinguishes it from broader notions of duty on professional and personal levels, and proposes a working taxonomy for practitioners to better understand the concept of "duty" in their response to COVID-19.