Nursing Ethics on Sugar Ban - Essay Example

ETHICS ON SUGAR BAN Student’s name Code & Course Professor’s name University City Date Ethics on Sugar Ban Introduction Nursing ethics dictate respect for human rights in nursing; which is a practice discipline. It is through quality nursing that the wellbeing and safety of patients are guaranteed. Such safety and wellbeing are products of best practice, critical thinking and ethics (Butts & Rich, 2013). In line with this, health practitioners are getting the insight that production and distribution of food is massively misaligned with nutritional standards. This id due to their reliance on production and distribution methods that are harmful to both the environmental and public health. Sugar is a short-chain, sweet and soluble carbohydrate.it is a composition of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. The main types of sugar are monosaccharides and disaccharides. Examples of the former are glucose, galactose and fructose while the latter includes lactose and maltose. Sugar is often blamed as the source of some serious health problems (Han & Powell, 2013). Though this is true, however, without sugar the body would not function properly. Sugar is important in the body unless too much of it is being taken. Some of the benefits of sugar are; source of immediate energy, acts as stored fuel and checks blood sugar levels. This paper therefore concerns itself with looking critically into the possibility of banning sugar completely in a Ward X, the implications of the ban and the ethics involved in the ban. Would it be appropriate for a nurse, the closest clinician to a patient, to endorse the ban? Would there be possible resistance from the patients regarding the issue? The paper critically analyses the benefits and shortcomings of the ban from a health, clinical and ethical perspective. Health Benefits of Banning Refined Sugar in the Ward This section examines the health benefits of banning sugar in the ward. There are many reasons why patients in the wards should cut-off refined sugar options in their diets. To implement the ban, all sugar will be put away starting with the vending machines that sell sugary drinks and eateries along the corridors. The main benefits are health and environment related. Curtailing Sugar Related Health Problems Nursing ethics endorse the inclusion of Evidence-Based Practice in nursing (Polit & Bet, 2013). As such, has been empirically proven that Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) are health hazards. Added sugars such as high fructose and sucrose are rich in calories; which contain no essential nutrients (Kit et.al, 2013). This is the main reason why they are tagged ‘empty calories’. In essence, such sugars contain neither carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, essential fats nor minerals. They only have pure energy. Kit et.al argue that when patients are allowed to take 10-20% of calories as sugar, then a nutritional deficiency problem is created. Carbonated soft drinks account for almost 10% of calories provision for the American population. Excessive consumption of these beverages can result to conditions such as obesity, diabetes and weight gain (Gaesser, 2013). These conditions vary from individual to another. People who are more active and healthy can tolerate higher sugar levels compared to inactive people who take in food rich in carbohydrates and calories (Haskell et.al, 2012). In this case, patients in the wards are unhealthy and inactive; reflecting that a refrain from these high-sugars would be beneficial to them.Sugar is also bad for the patients’ teeth. This is due to its nature of providing easily digestible energy; which encourages thriving of bad bacteria in their mouths (Cleave, 2013).Following all this information ensures that banning of refined sugar stands the test of nursing ethics in using Evidence-Based Practice. Hunger Alleviation and Nutrition Sweetened foods and beverages, as mentioned earlier, have no nutritional value. It would therefore be unethical if nurses and other health practitioners to let their patients to keep on taking them. The patients only take in large amounts of calories but no nutrients (Smith et.al, 2013). Removal of these foods and beverages alone is not enough. They should be replaced with healthier foods such as natural juices, milk and whole grains (Hawkes et.al, 2013). These types of food, when taken, alleviate hunger and have nutritional value to the patient. However, the patients who are low-income earners will be faced with a disadvantage of having fewer funds to buy the food (Kimura, 2013). This does not, however, in anyway dismiss the fact that banning the sugary foods will be beneficial. A patient who takes three bottles of sweetened beverages per day will be forced to buy a bottle of milk or natural juice per day. Though there will be less utility, the nutritional value taken in will be higher compared to taking sweetened foods and beverages. Shortcomings of Banning the Use of Refined Sugar Education is better than Banning Straightforward banning of sugar in the ward could be taken as controversial. It may also result to resistance from patients and other stakeholders. The best way to stop taking of refined sugar in the ward would therefore be to use education and incentives to healthy eating habits (Nestle, 2013). Research has shown that people from poor backgrounds take more sweetened beverages and fast foods compared to the rich. This is because they have no funds for healthier eating habits. Banning the sugar from Ward X will not add any value to the poor patients but will be oppressive to them. The hospital should put up outlets that make it easier to access healthy food and beverages at a cheap price to ensure that all patients are well catered for. There should also be a program to educate those in the wards on the health benefits of cutting down uptake of sweetened foods (Hawkes et.al, 2013). Furthermore, the leadership of the hospital can make it more expensive to purchase the sweetened foods than the healthier ones; having educated the patients on the health hazards of too much sugar in their bodies. This will ensure that sweetened foods and beverages are outdone by healthy ones. Undermining Social Justice Nursing ethics are advocates of social justice; a distribution of responsibilities and resources fairly in relation to members of a given society (Nettina et.al, 2013). It also concentrates on the comparative position of a social group in relation to other groups in the same society, the causes of the major disparities in society and the measures that can be taken to eliminate them (Han & Powell, 2013). All societies are subject to wide, organized oppressions and inequalities. In the Case of Ward X, banning of sugar would be a great social injustice to the patients since it would be against their wish. Additionally, it would be discrimination as well as oppression to the patients since this implicates health negatively for individuals and the communities at large. Nurses work at the juncture between personal lives and public policy. As such, they are morally obliged to employ political advocacy while undertaking their practice (Kirkham et al. 2006)). In their encounters with their patients and significant others, nurses have the upper hand to fight discrimination and oppression in the health-care sector. In their quest to promote health and well-being, nurses should make sure that respect is used in practice and that such disparities and discriminations are countered (Butts & Rich, 2013). This will be the first step to promoting social justice and making it fundamental in nursing practice. A nurse in Ward X would therefore decline to the proposal of banning refined sugar in the ward. Conclusion In my opinion, I would decline to the proposal of banning the sugar. To begin with, it is of great importance to cub the menace of avoidable conditions such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and weight gain (Gaesser, 2013). It is also undeniably true that hunger alleviation and nutritional wellbeing are vital (Smith et.al, 2013). However, banning the sugar would only create chaos and controversies in the ward. This is so because there is a better way to eliminate the sugar than a straightforward ban. It would be more reasonable to educate the patients in the ward on the dangers of taking in excess sugar (Nestle, 2013). Secondly, placing incentives for them would be a better way of changing their dietary habits. For instance, getting a $2 coupon free after purchasing a $5 bottle of milk as opposed to soda would ensure that such a buyer shifts from taking soda to milk (Hawkes et.al, 2013). Ethics demand that all people should be treated with a reasonable amount of equity. There is however no equity in banning sugar in a given ward of a hospital. Nursing ethics promote social justice and respect. Endorsing the ban will further create a rift between the low-income patients as compared to their rich counterparts. Low-income earners are usually subjected to poor living standards, which accompany problems such as poor nutrition (Haskell et.al, 2012). In this case, it is the low-income earners who take in more sweetened foods in comparison to the others who can afford better nutrition in their diets (Kimura, 2013). As such I would strongly disagree with the proposal by the CNC to ban sugar in the ward. Reference List Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2013). Nursing ethics: Across the curriculum and into practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Gaesser, G. A. (2013). Big fat lies: The truth about your weight and your health. Gurze Books. Haskell, W. L., Lee, I. M., Pate, R. R., Powell, K. E., Blair, S. N., Franklin, B. A., ... & Bauman, A. (2007). Physical activity and public health: updated recommendation for adults from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Circulation, 116(9), 1081. Han, E., & Powell, L. M. (2013). Consumption patterns of sugar-sweetened beverages in the United States. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113(1), 43-53. Hawkes, C., Jewell, J., & Allen, K. (2013). A food policy package for healthy diets and the prevention of obesity and diet‐related non‐communicable diseases: the NOURISHING framework. Obesity reviews, 14(S2), 159-168. Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2013). Essentials of nursing research: Appraising evidence for nursing practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Kit, B. K., Fakhouri, T. H., Park, S., Nielsen, S. J., & Ogden, C. L. (2013). Trends in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among youth and adults in the United States: 1999–2010. The American journal of clinical nutrition, ajcn-057943. Kimura, A. H. (2013). Hidden hunger: Gender and the politics of smarter foods. Cornell University Press. Nestle, M. (2013). Food politics: How the food industry influences nutrition and health (Vol. 3). Univ of California Press. Cleave, T. L. (2013). The saccharine disease: conditions caused by the taking of refined carbohydrates, such as sugar and white flour. Elsevier. Kirwan, M., Matthews, A., & Scott, P. A. (2013). The impact of the work environment of nurses on patient safety outcomes: a multi-level modeling approach. International journal of nursing studies, 50(2), 253-263. Anderson, D. L. (2013). Organization development: The process of leading organizational change. Sage Publications. Burke, W. W. (2013). Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications. Nettina, S. M., Msn, A. B., & Nettina, S. M. (2013). Lippincott manual of nursing practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Kirkham, S. R., & Browne, A. J. (2006). Toward a critical theoretical interpretation of social justice discourses in nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 29(4), 324-339. Smith, J., Sones, K., Grace, D., MacMillan, S., Tarawali, S., & Herrero, M. (2013). Beyond milk, meat, and eggs: Role of livestock in food and nutrition security. Animal Frontiers, 3(1), 6-13. Read More