Medical Ethics Advisor – September 1, 2020
September 1, 2020
View Issues
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Demand for Ethics Education Surges at Medical Schools
Experts argue ethics education should be a lifelong process, not a one-time course in medical school.
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Students Shadow Chaplains, Connect with Patients
Medical students led the creation of a grassroots ethics program that includes lunch-and-learn sessions, ethics presentations, faculty-student mentorship sessions, student ethics committee discussions, and an ethics capstone scholarly project. Students learn to recognize ethical issues in everyday medical decisions as they transition to providing direct patient care on clinical wards.
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PEACE Rounds Promote Better Communication in Neonatal ICU
Conflicts can happen between nurses and physicians, families and physicians, and social workers and families. Weekly Patient Experience and Communication Excellence (PEACE) rounds, implemented in 2016 in the pediatric intensive care unit at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, has ameliorated healthcare providers’ moral distress and shortened length of stay for some patients.
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When Clinicians Ask Urgent Ethical Questions, Time Is of the Essence
When busy clinicians ask for ethics help, they need assistance now, not weeks later. Ethics’ response should be just as timely as any medical or surgical subspecialty service. When clinicians receive a quick, helpful response from ethics, word spreads quickly in healthcare organizations.
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ICU Length of Stay Linked to Burnout in Critical Care Nurses
Considering longer length of stay is a possible consequence of burnout, there is an ethical concern that patients are harmed when exposed to healthcare systems with high rates of clinical staff burnout.
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Ethical Guidance Needed if Someone Wants to Override Patient’s Wishes
Hospitals could put a policy in writing to make clear the obligation of staff to follow a patient’s previously expressed decisions and the obligation of the surrogate to make the decision the patient would want, not the decision the surrogate would want.
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Ending Race Disparities: ‘Less About Clinical Interventions, Much More About Ethics’
A leading expert explains why disparities persist and how ethicists can help.
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Did Parent Refuse Vaccine? Nurses Offer Strong Opinions on Dismissal
This can become an ethical issue for nurses if their practice has a dismissal policy that conflicts with their strongly held convictions about the right response to vaccine-refusing families.