Pandemic Influenza Plan - 2009
SECTION 1: OVERVIEW
Chapter 1: Introduction
A. PLAN PURPOSE AND SCOPE
Pandemic influenza has been identified as a specific hazard that could imminently disrupt the operations of the Long Term Care centre, the health care system and society. It is a possible emergency situation for which appropriate planning is required to ensure all staff are equipped with the knowledge, skills and resources to respond. The Peel Long Term Care Pandemic Influenza Plan was developed to guide LTC staff in their response to a pandemic influenza in their community or centre.
The Peel Long Term Care Pandemic Influenza Plan has been designed as one aspect of the LTC centre’s broader emergency plan. It reflects current scientific knowledge and planning principles applied at the international, national, provincial and local levels. While the plan is as complete as possible at the time of publication, pandemic planning is an ongoing process. The plan will be reviewed on a regular basis, in conjunction with the centre’s emergency plan, to ensure it remains aligned with national, provincial and local plans and reflects current knowledge on pandemic influenza.
B. PLAN STRUCTUREThis plan is divided into three main sections.
Section One provides an overview of pandemic influenza, the LTC centre’s goals of pandemic response, the ethical framework under which decisions during an influenza pandemic will be governed and the assumptions driving the planning process.
Section Two outlines the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, internal and external, to the LTC centre in relation to a pandemic response. It also provides an overview of the legislative authority under which response activities are governed.
Section Three identifies the specific components of the LTC centre’s pandemic response. This section outlines activities in the areas of surveillance, infection prevention and control/occupational health and safety, resident care, antiviral and vaccine medications, human resource management, communications and relevant emergency planning requirements.
C. GOALS OF PANDEMIC RESPONSE
The Peel Long Term Care Pandemic Influenza Plan acknowledges the national, provincial and local goals of pandemic response. In alignment with these goals, the Region of Peel’s LTC centres’ goals of pandemic response are as follows:
- To minimize serious illness and overall deaths in the LTC centre.
- To minimize disruption to essential LTC services in the centre as a result of an influenza pandemic.
- To contribute to an integrated health response in Peel.
Individuals and agencies involved in a pandemic response may be required to make difficult decisions regarding the provision of care and allocation of scarce resources. To support the decision making process, the Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic 2007 (OHPIP) outlines an ethical framework.1 This ethical framework has been adopted by the Long Term Care Pandemic Influenza Plan to support staff in their decision making during an influenza pandemic.
OHPIP states stakeholders (e.g., members of the public, patients, health care workers, other organizations) are more likely to accept difficult decisions if the decision making processes are:2
- Open and transparent
- Reasonable
- Inclusive
- Responsive
- Accountable
OHPIP further outlines the core ethical values that should be considered during a pandemic response. It states more than one value may be relevant in any given situation and some values will be in tension with others. These core values, which are discussed in greater detail in the OHPIP, include 3:
E. DUTY TO PROVIDE CARE
The Canadian Nursing Association (CNA) Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses states, "During a natural or human-made disaster, including a communicable disease outbreak, nurses have a duty to provide care using appropriate safety precautions.” The code further explains “a duty to provide care refers to a nurses’ professional obligation to provide persons receiving care with safe, competent, compassionate and ethical care." 4
During a Pandemic health care workers may feel pulled between their obligation to their family and their obligation to their residents. To anticipate, deliberate and prepare is part of the ‘social contract’ or duty of health professionals to provide care. Accordingly health care workers have a moral and ethical responsibility not only to their residents but also to their families and to themselves to become knowledgeable about the Region of Peel’s Long Term Care Pandemic Plan, attend educational sessions related to pandemic planning and assist their families to prepare for a pandemic. A one page questionnaire that health care workers can utilize to assist them in their preparation for a pandemic can be found in the OHPIP. 6
Canadian Nurses Association. Ethics in Practice for Registered Nurses. p.8
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. (2008). Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic 2008,
p. 8A-22.. Retrieved November 2008 http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/program/emu/pan_flu/pan_flu_plan.html
1 Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. (2007). Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic 2007, Chapter 2, pp. 8-11. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/program/emu/pan_flu/pan_flu_plan.html
2 Ibid. Section 2.5
3 Ibid. Section 2.5
4 Canadian Nurses Association. Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses, 2008. p.9
5 Canadian Nurses Association. Ethics in Practice for Registered Nurses. p.8
6 Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. (2008). Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic 2008, p. 8A-22. Retrieved November 2008
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/program/emu/pan_flu/pan_flu_plan.html
