Actually, it is
important for the federal government to create a federal law which requires
workers within the healthcare sector to have immunity from some specific
communicable diseases. In accordance with CDC (2019), healthcare workers are
frequently in contact with hospitalized patients diagnosed with different
diseases and due to it, these workers are at the risk of transmission of these
diseases. Therefore, immunity maintenance is a necessary and significant
infection control programs and prevention for the government. Other than just
making a federal law, immunizing agents can be used optimally for safeguarding
workers’ health and protecting patients from developing the same diseases which
are harboring within patients. However, federal law can serve to decrease the
number of workers within both health departments and hospitals at the risk of
transmission of different diseases.
In addition to public hospitals, it
is important for this federal law to apply to schools, nursing homes, and
offices of physicians associated with healthcare. This will ensure that workers
are not infected with diseases. For instance, when it comes to healthcare
personnel, HBV or Hepatitis B Virus is considered one of the most communicable
diseases. And during the year of 1993, approximately 1,450 workers were
infected because of their exposure to body fluids and blood. During the past
ten years, 100-200 healthcare workers have experienced the death of being
infected with this disease. It can be said that the risk of acquiring this
disease depends significantly on the rate of exposure to infected fluids. Thus,
depending on the task of a worker, the risk of being infected might vary. For
workers whose tasks require them to be exposed to blood, postexposure prophylaxis
should be recognized and considered in the law.
Influenza is yet another disease
which can infect workers. At first, workers can be infected with this disease
and moving on, they can further infect patients who have other diseases. When
influenza is transmitted among the workers, absenteeism is caused and
healthcare is also disrupted due to it. Mortality and morbidity have also been
caused by influenza outbreaks. In addition to this disease, there are several
other diseases which can be transferred from a patient to workers. In order to
address these issues, federal law should be created which can ensure that healthcare
workers are not being diagnosed with these diseases and in order to do this,
proper vaccinations and checkups should be developed which can treat healthcare
workers (CDC, 2019).
References of In your response you should show proficiency with the concept of federalism?
CDC. (2019). Immunization of Health-Care Workers:
Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
and the Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC).
Retrieved from CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00050577.htm
NCBI. (2013). U.S. Health in International
Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health. Retrieved from NCBI:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK154469/
NYTimes. (2016). Should the Veterans Health Care
System be Privatized? Retrieved from NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/06/28/should-the-veterans-health-care-system-be-privatized