Medical Ethics Advisor
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Ethical Concerns When Committing Psychiatric Patients Involuntarily
Hospitals continue to see a surge of psychiatric patients coming to their EDs. Some end up admitted involuntarily — and not always appropriately. Certain emerging patterns are ethically troubling.
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Fresh Approaches for Quality Assurance Hot Topic in Ethics Field
Quality assurance in clinical ethics work comes with some unique challenges, and many in the field desire to do it better.
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Clinicians Struggle With Ethical Decision-Making if There Is No Surrogate
Federal law requires hospitals to inform patients of the need to choose a surrogate. However, many institutions perform this task poorly, due in part to a lack of clear policies, proper training, and other support. There are a few ways the ethics team can help.
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Ethics Education in High Demand for Palliative Care Clinicians
Ethics consultants and palliative care clinicians are obvious partners in the task of caring for patients in pain. The skills of each group, when combined, are of great potential benefit to patients and their families.
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Data: Opioids Rising Cause of Ethics Consults
An analysis conducted at a Massachusetts hospital regarding ethics consults related to opioid prescriptions could provide useful insight for other facilities seeing a rise in such requests.
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Pediatric Oncology Ethics Consults Few in Number, Limited in Scope
Research findings may suggest clinicians do not recognize ethical dilemmas other than treatment-related decision-making and care goals at life’s end. More education could help medical teams identify important ethical issues and to call on the proper resources to address those issues when needed.
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Even the Best Ethics Consults Can Result in Dissatisfaction
It may boil down to disagreements among patients, families, and caregivers about what is best.
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Nearly Half of Pediatric Oncology Patients Receive No Palliative Care
An analysis revealed palliative care discussions do not happen until late in the illness trajectory. Further, the review revealed actual palliative care does not begin until close to time of death.
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Many More Palliative Care Consults With Predictive Analytics
A system powered by predictive analytics increased palliative care consultations for seriously ill patients by 74%, according to the authors of a recent study.
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How to Create a Truly Diverse Ethics Committee
Ethics committees thrive on diverse perspectives. Recruiting a wide range of members can bring previously unexplored options to light.