Last month you qualified as a nurse. You now have your first job, working in a local school. Today your supervisor has told you that you are to administer the Hepatitis B vaccination to all Year 8 children. Your supervisor is extremely keen on immunisation and tells you that you must vaccinate every child, without exception. He says the science is conclusive - vaccination is safe and in everyone's best interests. He says sometimes children get upset and anxious about vaccinations but if that happens you should just reassure them that all is well and go ahead and inject them.
Two years ago, the same supervisor severely disciplined another junior nurse for refusing to carry out her instructions, and now the nurse is finding it very hard to get a better job.
You begin your vaccinations for the day. All is going fine until you ask Andrew to roll up his sleeve for the needle. He gets very upset and says that his parents don't approve and that you can't vaccinate him because they don’t agree. You ask him to sit down while you check. You call your supervisor who says he does not have the paperwork in front of him, but he is pretty sure Andrew's parents signed the consent letter, so you absolutely must go ahead.
You go back to Andrew and tell him he must be immunised. Andrew starts to cry and sob and says his parents usually throw school letters away unopened and he is sure they would say 'no'. You ask for their phone number but Andrew says they’re out at work all day and are not allowed to use their mobiles.
He says he is scared and can he go now? What would you do? Do you agree with the proposal?
It is proposed that you go ahead and vaccinate Andrew