Medical Ethics Advisor – May 1, 2016
May 1, 2016
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Is medical ethics education reaching today’s students?
Currently, the more than 140 medical schools in the U.S. teach ethics “in just about 140 different ways,” says D. Micah Hester, PhD, a professor at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Hester is also a clinical ethicist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
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When Is Hospital Discharge Unsafe?
It’s a difficult yet common scenario: A patient needs home care but there's no reliable caregiver available. Time for an ethics check.
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Study: Families perceive less aggressive end-of-life care as better quality
Among family members of older patients who died of advanced-stage cancer, earlier hospice enrollment, avoidance of ICU admissions within 30 days of death, and death occurring outside the hospital were associated with perceptions of better end-of-life care, according to a recent study.1
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Chaplain visits in ICU uncommon, study finds
[Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part series on the role of chaplains in the hospital setting. In this story, we report on how chaplains and ethicists can work together to ensure ethical care. Last month, we explored how chaplains can help to resolve conflicts over whether to withdraw life-sustaining interventions.]
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Dying in America recommendations not reality in most hospital settings, experts say
The Institute of Medicine’s landmark September 2014 report, Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life, identified serious deficiencies in end-of-life care in the U.S. Institutions reacted to the report’s recommendations in various ways.
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Autonomy, consent are key ethical concerns with egg freezing
Growing numbers of women are choosing to freeze their eggs in order to delay childbearing until later in life. Some ethicists, however, worry that the existence of oocyte cryopreservation technology places responsibility for juggling career, education, and family-making on women alone.