In this essay, I will discuss neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) ethical issues. Neonatal abstinence syndrome is a condition where a baby is exposed to drugs while in the womb, and then is born and shows withdrawal symptoms from these drugs. I chose this topic because two labor and delivery nurses from Ball Memorial Hospital came to our Nurses Association meeting and talked about what a typical day at work is like for them. One of the nurses stated that she sees a lot of babies who are born showing drug withdrawal symptoms. I did not realize that neonatal abstinence syndrome was so common. I became very interested in this topic and decided to research the ethical issues for this essay.
To begin, the first article I evaluated was “Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.” Nurses have recorded a huge increase in neonatal abstinence syndrome due to opioid use. NICU nurses often feel frustrated and emotionally exhausted when caring for babies with NAS because the care for these babies is challenging and very demanding. Studies have shown that over time compassion fatigue and burnout are a risk for the nurses caring for babies with NAS due to the great amount of stress and challenge they endure every day while caring for these babies. It would not be ethical if nurses who are physically and mentally exhausted and burned out were caring for these demanding babies, because the baby might not get the best care from a nurse who is burned out. To avoid these ethical dilemmas practical strategies have been established to reduce these risks in hospitals. An improvement in education and self-care measures can help nurses manage stress more effectively (Sweigart, 2017). I chose this article because it shows how challenging and demanding the care is for these babies with NAS. It also states that there are different policies and strategies to help nurses deal with this physical and mental stress.
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The second article I read was “Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and Ethical Approaches to the Identification of Pregnant Women Who Use Drugs.” Opioid use has been a huge problem in the United States for years. Opioid use is very addictive and dangerous for anyone who abuses it but especially dangerous for pregnant women. If women use drugs while pregnant the baby could become addicted, resulting in NAS. Public health has focused on finding different strategies that are ethical for the recognition of drug use. Some methods that have been accepted include urine samples and drug screening. If drug use has been suspected the pregnant woman could end up losing her child, be arrested, and prosecuted (Terplan, 2017). I chose this article because it discusses how opioid and drug use are so common in the United States. It also described different methods that have been ethically accepted for recognizing drug use before the baby is born.
Finally, the third article I evaluated was, “Infants in Drug Withdrawal: A National Description of Nurse Workload, Infant Acuity, and Parental Needs.” Infants with NAS require thorough nursing care because these infants have very complex physiological and behavioral states. This also makes caring for these babies very difficult and exhausting. There was a study done to compare infant acuity, parental needs, and nurse workload of babies with NAS compared to normal babies without NAS. The survey data was from 6,045 nurses from neonatal intensive care units. These nurses reported caring for 15,233 babies and 361 of those babies suffered from NAS. Nurses reported that not only do the babies with NAS require intensive care, but so do the parents. There are policies that have been made to ensure that the patient-to-nurse ratio is smaller for nurses caring for babies with NAS compared to healthy babies because they require such intensive care. Although nurses face many moral and ethical challenges while caring for these babies and mothers, these policies allow nurses to meet their ethical responsibilities in caring for these infants (Smith, et al. 2018). I chose this article because it shows how challenging it is to fully uphold your moral and ethical responsibilities in caring for these babies with NAS because of how complex their situation is.
After reading the three articles I learned how challenging it is to care for babies suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome. These babies require very intensive care and it takes weeks for them to overcome NAS. I also learned that while feeling very challenged, mentally and physically, when caring for these babies you have to find ways to manage your stress so that you are able to fully uphold your moral and ethical responsibilities as a nurse. Finally, I have learned that neonatal abstinence syndrome is a big issue in the United States, and it is becoming more and more prevalent. I know that if I decide to become a NICU nurse or labor and delivery nurse someday I will most likely come across babies born with NAS. As a nurse, I will remember how challenging it is to care for these babies and that I need to find ways to manage my stress so that I can care for these babies to the best of my ability.
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