Medical Ethics
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‘Ethics Liaisons’ Can Maximize Reach of Ethics Service
Some nurses and physicians are taking on a role of ethics liaison to serve as a point of contact between clinicians, patients, and ethicists.
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Ethical Concerns if Medical Students Struggle with Mental Health
There is a critical need to prepare medical students early in their training to recognize emerging signs of psychiatric illnesses.
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Patients Are Reading Ethicists’ Documentation
Patients can now view ethics documentation in real time, just as they can view the notes of other clinical providers, as a result of the “Open Notes” requirement in the 21st Century Cures Act (implemented in 2021).
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Ethicists Connect Their Work with Hospital’s Mission
The work of ethics usually aligns closely with the mission of the hospital or health system.
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Is Organizational Ethics Part of Ethicists’ Role? It Varies Widely
At many hospitals and health systems, ethicists are focused narrowly on consult requests involving individual patients. However, some ethicists take a broader, systemwide approach with their work.
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POLST Completion Ensures Patient Wishes Are Honored at Future Visits
Having a DNR Portable Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form in place ensures that patients’ stated wishes are followed at future visits.
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Patients Want Spiritual Support — But Can Clinicians Provide It?
Many patients struggling with a serious or advanced illness want to talk with clinicians about spirituality.
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Emergency Nurses Face Barriers to Serious Illness Conversations
Emergency nurses view lack of privacy, concerns about delayed patient throughput, and perceived difficulty as barriers to having serious illness conversations with patients in the emergency department (ED) setting, a recent study found.
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Brief Intervention Reduces Nurses’ Compassion Fatigue
A group of researchers evaluated how a brief mindfulness-based intervention affected compassion fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Ethical Guidance for Clinicians Facing Oncology Drug Shortages
Drug shortages have been a challenging problem for many years, but they have become even more prevalent in recent years as a result of supply chain challenges and regulatory changes.