Document Detail


Mandatory ethics consultation policy.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19567711     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVE: To describe ethics consultations at a single institution that has a mandatory ethics consultation policy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all adult patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit at Columbia University Medical Center and had an ethics consultation between August 1, 2006, and July 31, 2007. All mandatory and nonmandatory ethics consultations were reviewed. Patient diagnosis, prognosis, presence of do-not-resuscitate order, presence of written advance directives, reason for the ethics consultation, and survival data were collected. The number of ethics consultations hospital-wide from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2007, was collected. RESULTS: The total number of mandatory and nonmandatory ethics consultations requested was 168. Of these consultations, 108 (64%) were considered mandatory, and 60 (36%) were considered nonmandatory. Between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2007, the total number of ethics consultations increased 84%. CONCLUSION: The increase in the total number of ethics consultations is interpreted as a positive outcome of the mandatory policy. The mandatory ethics consultation policy has possibly increased exposure to ethics consultant-physician interactions, increased learning for physicians, and raised awareness among physicians and nurses of potential ethics assistance.
Authors:
Megan E Romano; Staffan B Wahlander; Barbara H Lang; Guohua Li; Kenneth M Prager
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Mayo Clinic proceedings. Mayo Clinic     Volume:  84     ISSN:  1942-5546     ISO Abbreviation:  Mayo Clin. Proc.     Publication Date:  2009 Jul 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-07-01     Completed Date:  2009-07-22     Revised Date:  2010-09-27    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0405543     Medline TA:  Mayo Clin Proc     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  581-5     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. meganromano@gmail.com
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cohort Studies
Ethics Consultation / utilization*
Female
Hospital Mortality
Humans
Intensive Care / ethics*,  organization & administration
Male
Mandatory Programs / utilization*
Middle Aged
Organizational Policy*
Program Evaluation
Retrospective Studies
Terminal Care / ethics
Withholding Treatment / ethics
Young Adult
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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