Medical Ethics
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Patients Want to Know if Treatment Is No Better than Placebo
Many patients may be surprised to find out the treatment they are taking is not any better than a placebo. Clinicians may think this is no big deal, as long as the person is feeling better and is grateful.
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Burnout Prevention Is Central Ethical Concern for Hospitals
Hospitals are facing an immediate ethical challenge to restore the mental health and wellness of clinical staff. This varies greatly from hospital to hospital. Some have done a lot of work around this area, while others have not focused on it as much. Above all, hospitals need to maintain clear lines of communication with staff about the situation.
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Ethical Principles Apply to Furloughs and Layoffs
Many hospitals are making tough financial decisions on staffing. Ethical considerations may be overlooked in the process.
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Public Health Nurses Share Views on Vaccine Education
Debates on how to best respond to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable infections continue. Opinions about mandating vaccines, including if, how, and when, vary widely.
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Sharply Divided (and Evolving) Views on Vaccine Refusers
As the world anxiously awaits a vaccine for COVID-19, an ethical debate rages over whether people should be allowed to refuse it.
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Massive Switch to Telehealth Is ‘Unparalleled Opportunity’ to Examine Ethics
The sudden and explosive growth of telehealth during COVID-19 demanded sorting out all kinds of logistics, reimbursement, and scheduling processes in short order. The frantic time frames to set it up did not exactly allow for careful ethical reflection.
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Cheap, Common Steroid Shows Efficacy Against COVID-19
British researchers are excited about their discovery, but full results have not been published.
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Chaplains ‘Uniquely Positioned’ to Help During COVID-19
Learn how chaplains can put their specialized training to use to help not only patients and families but staff, too.
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Is the Family Hoping for a Miracle? Ethical Responses Vary
Parents sometimes want life-sustaining technology continued because a miracle is possible, but the pediatrician believes it is harmful. The key to an ethical response in this kind of case is to gain insight into what the parent means by “miracle.” A recent paper offers a process-based approach to this.
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POLST Forms Not Always Used as Intended, Rarely Accessed in EDs
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms have been implemented widely to reduce unwanted, aggressive treatment for patients with serious illness at the end of life. However, most studies on POLST have been limited to nursing home residents or among decedents. Researchers set out to better understand how POLST forms are used in the hospital, and whether treatment limitations on POLST influence the intensity of treatment hospital patients received.