Medical Ethics Advisor
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Patients, Family, Clinicians All Misunderstand Chaplains’ Role
One way to help is to provide patients and providers with background information on chaplains, with an emphasis on the fact chaplains are certified professionals who are specifically trained to provide patient-focused spiritual care to all people, regardless of belief system.
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Bioethics Field Lacks Standardized Competencies for Trainees
The hope is that training programs will find a way to evaluate not only trainees’ progress, but also the adequacy of their programs in training people to work in the field of bioethics.
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Some Researchers Turn to Social Media Influencers for Help with Recruitment
To do this effectively, researchers must become familiar with the social media environment relevant to their study population, find the right influencers, and contact those people.
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Report: Still Not Enough Women Included in Cardiovascular Research
To augment the enrollment of women in cardiovascular trials, researchers must build awareness of cardiovascular risk factors and foster trust among women. Try increasing the percentage of women who lead clinical trials, modifying inclusion and exclusion criteria, and advertising the risks and benefits of participation to the general population.
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IRBs Now Expect More Diversity in Research Trials
Promoting equitable participation must not be at the cost of impeding research. But within an ethical framework beyond regulations, IRBs are evolving to address and accelerate equitable inclusion in research.
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Medical Organizations’ Ethics Statements Are Inconsistent
Investigators analyzed the ethics statements of 22 organizations and characterized each as traditional (18%), relational (9%), or social constructionist (73%). Overall, there was significant inconsistency and lack of clarity on the direct goals of medicine. The study showed 33% to 53% of direct statements regarding the goals of medicine contained a fundamental philosophical disagreement.
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For Most Patients on Dialysis, Religious/Spiritual Beliefs Are Important
Researchers surveyed 937 patients receiving dialysis at 31 facilities in Nashville and Seattle from 2015 to 2018. Those for whom religious or spiritual beliefs were more important were more likely to favor a shared decision-making role, more likely to favor resuscitation and mechanical ventilation, and less likely to have considered stopping dialysis.
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Many Nurses Hesitate to Ask for Ethics Consult
Some nurses mistakenly believe only the attending physician can request ethics consults. Others do not even know their institution offers an active ethics consultation service. Still others worry about retaliation.
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Inconsistent Ethics Training in Undergraduate Radiologic Technology Programs
Few programs are using case-based studies and group discussions. Such instruction gives students the opportunity to recognize, analyze, and understand ethical dilemmas. This would allow educators to evaluate how students apply their learning in the professional setting.
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Qualitative Methods Give Unique Insights on Ethics Consult Standards
Just asking if people are satisfied with an ethics consult only raises more questions. A participant might be very satisfied, but only because of a hoped-for outcome — for instance, a specific family member was identified as the appropriate surrogate decision-maker. Conversely, someone might rate satisfaction as very low just because they did not like the case outcome. This misconstrues the purpose of an ethics consult.