Ethical Issues Surrounding Teenagers and Provision of Contraception

Teenagers are also referred to as the adolescents, defined by their age which is between 13 and 19 years. At this age children are transitioning to adults physical, emotionally, and mentally. Adolescents are also the age where students join and finish their high school before entering college. Adolescent is the age of exploration for self-identification, this age young women and men are sexually active and prone to making mistakes on various issues if not guided properly. One of the biggest challenge experienced at this age is teenage pregnancy. Young girls stand different health concerns among other risks when they get pregnant at this age. For instance, the teenage girl may drop out of school to care for the child or nurse the pregnancy (Hofferth & Hayes, 1987). Some teenagers may be advised or pressurized by family members and friends to conduct and abortion. An abortion that is not carried out by experts may lead to the death of the teenager. America registers the highest rate of teenage pregnancies among the western industrialized nations (Fielding & Williams, 1991). This problem has become a great challenge for nurses who have run out of options in managing this situation.

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Significance of the study

Various efforts have been driven towards controlling teenage pregnancy, but so little has been achieved through different measures. However, the sure mean for controlling this social menace is by unconditionally allowing teenagers to access contraceptive once they reach the sexually active stage. Counseling these children about abstinence has not worked, since other factors such as peer pressure and needed for exploration are stronger and increase the vulnerability. Nurses serve in various capacities and institution in managing the problem. For instance, they are found in skill health units providing various services which include, counseling and treatment to the adolescents. They are also instrumental in designing and implementing programs in the communities for controlling teen pregnancy (Ferguson, 1997). Finding an effective solution will make the work of nurses easier. The study will be critical in coming up with a solution that will reduce the teenage pregnancy and other associated risks.

The five questions that were chosen and analyzed for their feasibility

What is the role of parents and state in adolescent access to the contraception?

What are the ethical issues surrounding teenagers and provision of contraception?

How effective has the information on abstinence been in controlling teenage pregnancy?

What is the role of nurses in controlling teenage pregnancy?

What are the risk factors for teenage pregnancy?

For the feasibility of the questions like any other research studies elements such as adaptability, implementation, practicability was considered (Bowen, Kreuter, Spring, Cofta-Woerpel, Linnan, Weiner, & Fernandez, 2009). The demand of the intervention was also assessed alongside the integration of the solution into the mainstream healthcare system. For instance, to implement the contraception solution, it would be easy to integrate it with the mainstreaming system of health care by coming up with a teenage section.

The preliminary PICOT question and a description of each PICOT variable relevant to the question

Among high school students, how effective is the use contraception as a birth control measure compared to the use of abstinence information, in controlling the rate of teenage pregnancy during their adolescent years

The PICOT questions are important as they assist in summarizing the effectiveness of interventions. The format will be used to summarize the PICOT question designed for this intervention of teenage pregnancy challenge. PICOT is an abbreviation, with each letter representing a variable in the question of interest as revealed below. P, stand for population or the sample size for the study participants. In this case, the teenagers of age between 13 and 19 in high school will compose the selected sample size. I, the letter represents the intervention that will be served with during the study (Riva, Malik, Burnie, Endicott, & Busse, 2012). The study will focus on the use of contraception models as the intervention for the teenage pregnancy challenge. "C" represents the comparison or the control intervention for the study. The counseling that focuses on abstinence is the control solution that will help in measuring the effectiveness of contraception. O, represents the expected outcome once the intervention had been implemented (Riva, et al., 2012). This is the section that reveals the effectiveness of the intervention. In this context, the outcome expected once the solution has been launched, will be a decrease in teen pregnancy cases. This section will also confirm that the information offered to promote abstinence from sex among adolescents is not useful in combating the problem. The weakness and strengths of the intervention will also be focused in this part. "T" represents the timeline schedule for data collection activities. In the study, the duration will cover the time the student selected for the survey will join and leave school.

The possible key terms that could be applied in accessing literature for the selected PICOT question and a rationale for the selections

Adolescents

Contraceptives

Abstinence

Ethics

Teenage pregnancy

Adolescent health

Legal age

Parental guidance

Access to contraceptives

Counseling and teen pregnancy

Nurses and reproductive health.

References

Bowen, D. J., Kreuter, M., Spring, B., Cofta-Woerpel, L., Linnan, L., Weiner, D., ... & Fernandez, M. (2009). How we design feasibility studies. American journal of preventive medicine, 36(5), 452-457.

Fielding, J. E., & Williams, C. A. (1991). Adolescent pregnancy in the United States: a review and recommendations for clinicians and research needs. American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Ferguson, S. L. (1997). Nurses' role in the prevention of teen pregnancy. Journal of pediatric nursing, 12(3), 186-187.

Riva, J. J., Malik, K. M., Burnie, S. J., Endicott, A. R., & Busse, J. W. (2012). What is your research question? An introduction to the PICOT format for clinicians. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association, 56(3), 167.

Hofferth, S. L., & Hayes, C. D. (1987). teenage pregnancy and its resolution.