Medical Ethics
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Ethical Responses if Family Abandons Loved One at Hospital
By leveraging their mediation skills, ethicists can build trust between weary family caregivers and clinicians who are unsure about how to handle a delicate situation. This can help everyone identify patient needs and find possible solutions.
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Is Ethics Education Part of the Solution to the Nursing Shortage?
Armed with ethics expertise, nursing leaders can help frontline nurses avoid burnout and moral distress. Consider routinely hosting short meetings to discuss ethical problems that are arising before things reach a crisis level.
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Congress Formally Ends X-Waiver Requirement
Lawmakers remove this barrier to treating opioid use disorder.
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Malpractice Lawsuits Allege Wrongful Prolongation of Life
The top problems in these cases are charting and communication among caregivers.
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Multiple Legal Issues with ED End-of-Life Care
An attorney argues missing the opportunity to respect autonomy in care decision-making for a patient who no longer desires curative care should be considered a poor outcome.
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Some ED Patients Undergo Unwanted End-of-Life Care
Despite uncertainty, it is possible to provide value-concordant care in the ED. Identify those patients, and initiate decisions based on goals of care, not just by a default reflexive pathway. This could help improve patients’ experiences and outcomes broadly, by targeting the right treatments to the right patients.
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Tissue Donors Can Track How Researchers Use Samples
Tissue donors never knew who used their samples or how. For the first time, tissue donors are using blockchain technology to track how scientists use their samples through a pilot program.
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Tricky Business: When a Surgeon Also Is a Researcher
Consider this seemingly innocent, straightforward question: “Would you be interested in participating in a clinical trial?” Now consider the ethical implications if a surgeon asks his or her own patient the same question.
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What Happens if Your Study Fails to Meet Recruitment Targets?
Failure to find enough clinical trial participants is more than just a logistical problem. There also are important ethical concerns. If the study remains incomplete, investigators risk violating the principle of beneficence.
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Clinicians Often Use Medical Jargon to Refer to Death
During family meetings, ethicists can gently clarify language to ensure everyone understands. Even the best communicators will encounter patients and families who will not or cannot hear the words spoken to them, especially if it is bad news.