Document Detail


Impact of pediatric ethics consultations on patients, families, social workers, and physicians.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  10685260     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether health providers and families find ethics consultations helpful in identifying, analyzing, and resolving ethical problems. STUDY DESIGN: Forty consecutive pediatric ethics consultations at the San Diego Children's Hospital and Health Center were evaluated retrospectively through chart reviews and structured interviews with physicians, social workers, and family members. RESULTS: In 23 of 40 cases, physicians or social workers were successfully interviewed. Of these 23 cases, four family interviews were completed. Over 90% of physicians and social workers found the ethics consultation to be helpful and would recommend an ethics consultation to others in the same circumstances. Two of the four families were strongly dissatisfied with the consultation and identified miscommunication of the ethics consultant's role as a major problem. CONCLUSION: The disparity observed in this study between satisfaction levels of health providers and families raises concerns. More studies that evaluate ethics consultations are needed, especially those that are designed prospectively and explore both these perspectives.
Authors:
B M Yen; L J Schneiderman
Publication Detail:
Type:  Case Reports; Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association     Volume:  19     ISSN:  0743-8346     ISO Abbreviation:  J Perinatol     Publication Date:    1999 Jul-Aug
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2000-03-08     Completed Date:  2000-03-08     Revised Date:  2007-11-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8501884     Medline TA:  J Perinatol     Country:  UNITED STATES    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  373-8     Citation Subset:  E; IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, USA.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adolescent
Child
Child, Preschool
Communication
Ethics, Medical*
Evaluation Studies as Topic
Family*
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Patients
Pediatrics / methods*
Personal Satisfaction
Physicians*
Referral and Consultation* / standards
Retrospective Studies
Social Work*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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