Medical Ethics Advisor
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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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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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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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Program offers tools, training for more ethical end-of-life care
Patients whose clinicians were trained in the use of a Serious Illness Conversation Guide were much more likely to have more comprehensive documentation in the electronic medical record of their goals, values and priorities.
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Cost-saving effect of palliative care larger for patients with comorbidities
Cost savings linked to palliative care consultations were greater for adults with advanced cancer with higher numbers of comorbidities, according to a recent study.
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Do substance abusers have capacity to consent to participate in research?
When researchers assessed the capacity of addicted individuals to provide consent to research, they found that about two-thirds of participants had decisional capacity.
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New data on moral distress in the ED
ED nurses participating in focus groups described a profound feeling of not being able to provide patient care as they wanted, a recent study reported.
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Is family “waiting for a miracle,” yet aggressive care is inappropriate?
Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on the role of chaplains in the hospital setting. In this story, we explore how chaplains can help to resolve conflicts over whether to withdraw life-sustaining interventions. Next month, we’ll report on how chaplains and ethicists can work together to ensure ethical care.
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The Highs and the Lows
The US has more than double the number of ICU admissions of other countries but has fewer in-hospital deaths.
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New guidance on ethics of charity dental clinics
Informed consent and lack of access to necessary follow-up care are two ethical concerns with charity clinics offering free dental care, according to a white paper from the American Dental Association.