Ethical decision-making regarding infant viability: A discussion

© The Author(s) 2016. Background: There are no universally agreed rules of healthcare ethics. Ethical decisions and standards tend to be linked to professional codes of practice when dealing with complex issues. Objectives: This paper aims to explore the ethical complexities on who should decide to give infants born on the borderline of viability lifesaving treatment, parents or the healthcare professionals. Method: The paper is a discussion using the principles of ethics, professional codes of practice from the UK, Nursing Midwifery Council and UK legal case law and statute. Healthcare professionals' experiences that influence parental decision are also considered. Findings & Discussion: There are considerable barriers to an effective discussion taking place in an environment where clinical decisions have to be made quickly once the baby is born. This is compounded by the need and respect for parental autonomy and the difficulties they face when making a best interest's decision knowing that this could cause more harm than good for their infant child and balancing any decision they make with quality of life. Conclusion: On deciding whether to give lifesaving treatment born at the borderline of viability, it should be a joint decision between the parents and the neonatal team

Why not boys? The human papillomavirus vaccine schedule in the UK

The aim of this paper is to explore the ethical issues on why boys are not currently included in the human papillomavirus vaccination schedule in the United Kingdom (UK). There is a paucity of literature on the benefits of vaccinating boys (Hull and Caplan, 2009). The current vaccination schedule in the UK for HPV consists of a two-dose quadrivalent vaccination (against HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18) for adolescent girls aged 11–13 years old. This is delivered as a school-based programme and is only offered to girls (NHS Choices, 2014; 2015). Currently, boys are not offered the vaccine and there are no plans to do so

The New Forgotten Half and Research Directions to Support Them

This is one of a series of five papers outlining the particular domains and dimensions of inequality where new research may yield a better understanding of responses to this growing issue.Using data from the nationally representative Educational Longitudinal Survey (ELS), the authors examine the circumstances of youth who drop out of community college before attaining a credential, discuss institutional challenges in the era of increased college access, and outline a research agenda to help youth move beyond "some college" and achieve their potential

Infant Mortality on Northern Plains Reservations

The infant mortality among Indian people living on the Northern Plains reservations (18.4per 1,000) is nearly double that of the U.S. infant mortality rate (9.8per 1,000). Data were collected for 19 reservations through the Healthy Start Program established to combat this problem, using the reservation as the unit of analysis. Relationships were hypothesized between reservations with high infant mortality rates and high alcohol consumption, tobacco use, poverty levels, and low availability of certain social services. The analysis substantiated only one major variable—poverty. Further analysis suggested that mortality rates were higher on reservations that did not provide social support programs such as smoking cessation, child care, substance abuse, or family planning. The authors contend that the causes of high infant mortality in this area are more social than medical in nature

‘Head’ and ‘Heart’ Work:Re-Appraising the Place of Theory in the ‘Academic Dimension’ of Pre-Service Teacher Education in England

This paper reflects on the needs of early career, pre-service and newly qualified teachers (NQTs) in the English education system, specifically the contested place of what we term the academic dimension within their pre-service professional formation. This largely theoretical paper begins with a philosophical review of an established debate concerning the relationship between theory, research, and professional knowledge in teaching, arguing that the discussion is irreducibly normative. Hogan's notion of teaching as "heart work" is extended to include "head work" and the case made for teachers developing a conceptual map as part of their professional formation to guide them in making good judgements in classrooms. From this, a pedagogical problem follows, in developing new approaches to engage teachers with theory given this is relatively absent in the English context. Four themes are identified from a brief review of existing studies concerned with engaging teachers in the academic dimension of pre-service teacher education which we relate to illustrative comments we have gathered informally from our own students which suggest they may appreciate the value of critical reflection on practice promoted by universities more than some policy makers in this context recognise. We conclude by suggesting ways in which one innovation in ITE in England with which we have been involved, Philosophy for Teachers (P4T), integrates the academic dimension and developing practice which relate to the four themes found in the review of existing literature, while focused on educational theory specifically. P4T fosters, we maintain, characteristically humanistic and relational reflection that is otherwise under-represented in professional formation for pre-and in-service teachers in England