Articles Tagged With: decision-making
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Video Facilitates Informed Consent for ICU Procedures
Audiovisual modules may improve knowledge and comprehension of ICU procedures, according to the results of a study of critically ill surgical patients and their legally authorized representatives.
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End-of-Life Care Should Not Vary Depending on Provider
Clinicians must be careful about imposing medical staff priorities over patients’ priorities. Making presumptions is dangerous. Ethicists can help by explaining the provider’s responsibility to offer accurate information.
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Physicians Reported Moral Distress About Surrogate Decision-Makers
Parties clash regarding comfort levels and how aggressive treatment should be. The lack of advance directives for so many patients exacerbates the problem. Nurses and other colleagues can join the conversations to assist or outright substitute for physicians who are unwilling or unable to engage deeply.
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Conflicts Over Decision-Making Frequent in ICUs
Consider psychological, biological, spiritual, and social factors, and the role they play in understanding illness and healthcare delivery. Using this model, clinical ethicists can encourage dialogue between healthcare professionals caring for seriously ill patients.
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Ethical Guidance Needed if Someone Wants to Override Patient’s Wishes
Hospitals could put a policy in writing to make clear the obligation of staff to follow a patient’s previously expressed decisions and the obligation of the surrogate to make the decision the patient would want, not the decision the surrogate would want.
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Nurses Create Approach to Ethical Decision-Making
Follow the four “Rs”: Recognize what is behind problematic decision-making, Release preconceived attitudes, Reconsider new approaches, and Restart with a fresh focus.
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Leaders Under Pressure Can Learn Decision-Making Tactics
Leaders working in case management are under unforgiving time limits, pressures, and resource constraints that make decision-making difficult. The challenge relates to the way healthcare is moving and the speed with which change is occurring within organizations as they continue to change, form partnerships, and other issues.
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Left Ventricular Assist Devices Pose Informed Consent Challenges
Most patients learn about the the option of left ventricular assist devices when they are facing the possibility of death. Emotion is high, and biases of cognition are prevalent. These issues pose challenges to ethical decision-making and informed consent.
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Ethics Consults Center on Conflicts Surrounding ECMO Withdrawal: ‘Dilemma Is When to Stop’
Ethicists are seeing increasing numbers of consults involving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), the most aggressive life-sustaining technology available. With ECMO, which is currently offered by about 250 U.S. hospitals, some patients are saved who would otherwise die.
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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.