This document discusses the tension between individual rights and the collective good in healthcare policy. Recent policies around smoking bans and childhood immunizations aim to benefit public health but are seen by some as infringing on individual liberties. When allocating scarce healthcare resources, policymakers must consider both individual rights and what provides the greatest benefits to the overall population. The document provides examples of scholarly readings on this topic and prompts the reader to analyze a specific healthcare policy in terms of this rights versus collective good tension.

1. Individual Right Versus The Collective Good Discussion
Individual Right Versus The Collective Good DiscussionIndividual Right Versus The
Collective Good DiscussionMost of the recent successes in improving the public’4 s health
has had to address the tension of individual rights versus the collective good. Anti-smoking
campaigns and laws banning smoking in public places protect people from the negative
health effects of second-hand smoke, yet some believe that they infringe on the individual
rights of those who choose to smoke. Requiring childhood immunizations has helped
prevent diseases such as polio and measles, but some parents assert that they have the right
to decide if being immunized is in the best interest of their children.This tension also exists
in the allocation of scarce resources, from providing adequate staff coverage to making
decisions about the amount of health care to provide. Given the nurse’s involvement in
policy and health care delivery, it is important to understand the dynamics of this tension,
as well as the legal and ethical implications.To prepare:When have you encountered a
tension between the individual right and the collective good in your nursing practice?With
information from the Learning Resources in mind, consider relatively recent examples of
health care policy that demonstrate this tension. For this Discussion, select one example of
timely health care policy that allows you to evaluate the tension between individual rights
and the collective good. Conduct additional research as necessary using credible websites
and the Walden Library.By tomorrow 04/04/2018 3pm, write a minimum of 550 words in
APA format with at least 3 scholarly references from the list of required readings below.
Include the level one headings as numbered below”ORDER NOW FOR CUSTOMIZED,
PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPERSPost a cohesive response that addresses the following:In the
first line of your posting, identify a health care policy.Explain the tension between
individual rights and the collective good.Analyze the ethical and legal considerations of the
policy.Required ReadingsBodenheimer, T., & Grumbach, K. (2016). Understanding health
policy: A clinical approach (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Medical.Chapter 13,
“Medical Ethics and Rationing of Health Care”This chapter discusses the four principles of
medical ethics—beneficence, malfeasance, autonomy, and justice, and views current health
care conditions through these lenses. Distributive justice, allocation of limited health care
resources, rationing, and the ethics of health care financing are also examined.Bae, S., &
Brewer, C. (2010). Mandatory overtime regulations and nurse overtime. Policy, Politics &
Nursing Practice, 11(2), 99–107.The authors examine the effect of government regulations
on health care issues by studying nurse overtime. They discovered that states with
mandatory overtime regulations had higher total RN work hours. Individual Right Versus

2. The Collective Good DiscussionBlum, J. D., & Talib, N. (2006). Balancing individual rights
versus collective good in public health enforcement. Medicine & Law, 25(2), 273–281.This
article examines the balance of public good and individual liberty through the examples of
policies regarding communicable disease and childhood immunization. The impact of the
U.S. Supreme Court Case, Jacobson v. Massachusettson health care policy is
discussed. Pauly, B. (2008). Harm reduction through a social justice lens. International
Journal of Drug Policy, 19(1), 4–10.The author discusses the ethical issue of marginalized
groups, such as the homeless, and their barriers to health care. The philosophy of harm
reduction and various social justice theories are examined as possible guides to a policy
initiative. Ruger, J. P. (2008). Ethics in American health 2: An ethical framework for health
system reform. American Journal of Public Health, 98(1), 1756–1763.Wieck, K. L., Oehler, T.,
Green, A., & Jordan, C. (2004). Safe nurse staffing: A win-win collaboration model for
influencing health policy. Policy, Politics & Nursing Practice, 5(3), 160–166. Optional
Resources Fowler, M. (2008). Guide to the code of ethics for nurses: Interpretation and
application. M. D. M. Fowler (Ed.). Silver Spring, MD: The American Nurses Association,
Inc. O’Connor, J. C., MacNeil, A., Chriqui, J. F., Tynan, M., Bates, H., & Eidson, S. K. (2008).
Preemption of local smoke-free air ordinances: The implications of judicial opinions for
meeting national health objectives. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 36(2), 403–
412. Rogers, E. M., & Peterson, J. C. (2008). Diffusion of clean indoor air ordinances in the
southwestern United States. Health Education & Behavior, 35(5), 683–697.Trentham, M.
(2009). Patient abandonment—What is it really? ASBN Update, 13(1). Individual Right
Versus The Collective Good Discussion