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As hospitals add more palliative care services, ethical issues arise that sometimes cannot be handled solely by a hospital ethics board because a broader community perspective is necessary.
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Palliative care once was a rare treatment option in the hospital setting, but in recent years it has grown in popularity to the point that most major hospitals and many small-to-mid-sized hospitals have palliative care programs available for patients, an expert says.
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Fresh research on burnout in the medical profession makes it clear that hospital ethics boards need to be proactive on this issue. Their role could include educating and suggesting policies to prevent physician and resident burnout and any resulting repercussions.
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Clinical ethics consultations still are infrequent in most hospitals, but their use is beginning to enter ethics board conversations, and it's an area that should be approached with cautious preparation, an expert says.
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The default policy of many hospitals is to have clinicians perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on dying patients except when there is a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) medical order signed by the patient.
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Hospital ethics boards should take the lead in promoting greater intercultural understanding between clinical staff and patients, according to an expert. This begins with education focusing around cultural awareness.
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Ethical concerns and privacy regulations make for a more complicated situation when health care researchers desire to view patient records to find potential research subjects.
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Last November, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued finalized new rules for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating hospitals designed to protect patients' right to choose their own visitors.
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Many physicians are making the decision to implant defibrillators specifically, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) in patients in cases where established guidelines based on the results of previous clinical trials do not appear to support implantation, according to a recent study.
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Researchers might find it tempting to collect data for socio-behavioral studies from social websites like Facebook. Their appeal is having fairly easy access and viewing a broad range of behavioral information. However, there are big ethical issues with regard to informed consent and privacy, an expert says.
