Medical Ethics Advisor
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Researchers Are Revamping Processes to Gather Community Input
Input from community members can help researchers make the study more effective by providing participants with regular updates on the results and proactively translating research consent forms into preferred languages. Investigators also could hire a staff representative of the community who can navigate cultural nuances and speak the preferred languages.
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Adults with Developmental Disabilities at Risk for Poor End-of-Life Care
Policies should specify that the wishes of these patients should be known. They should be able to access all medically appropriate care, without bias, and have the right to avoid medical interventions they wish to refuse.
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‘Informed Assent’ for CPR Is Reasonable Approach for Some Hospitalized Patients
This concept was developed to satisfy the right of physicians to initiate DNR orders in futile situations and their duty to communicate to patients and lawful surrogates. Through informed assent, physicians state they will write a DNR order because it would be futile and harmful to the patient to attempt CPR in their current serious illness.
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Decision-Making Capacity Is Concern for Older Study Participants
It likely is an accident if investigators enroll participants lacking decision-making capacity in trials. Since capacity to consent is not a mandated area to report for most journals publishing research, it may be left out for space or other reasons. Nevertheless, some researchers are seeking to start a conversation about this.
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Shared Decision-Making Is Ethical Balancing Act for Clinicians
Physicians should always inform, usually recommend, sometimes attempt to persuade — but never manipulate or coerce.
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Researchers Overlook Unintended Consequences of Health Technology
Health technology studies usually cover research ethics related to conducting the study. However, paper authors often seem to omit details about the ethical implications of the technology itself. This gap is important to consider in an era of dramatically advancing technology.
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Artificial Intelligence Soon Could Transform the Field of Clinical Ethics
Using a tool that could introduce bias into a clinical situation or during an ethics consult is problematic. To address these and other issues, ethicists can and should be part of their facility's artificial intelligence oversight board.
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Nurses at Rural Facilities Explain Barriers to End-of-Life Care
Family members often disagree with one another and misunderstand the meaning of “lifesaving measures.”
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Nurses and Physicians Find Ethics Consults Helpful, But for Different Reasons
Ethicists are challenged to meet the needs of everyone involved during an ethics consult. Now, ethicists can turn to some new data on how those differ.
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Updated Recommendations on Pediatric End-of-Life Care
A report includes a review of essential elements of care for patients and families. The authors covered discussions on goals of care, how to establish end-of-life care goals, advance care planning, and palliative and hospice involvement.