Addressing ethical issues in the nursing home.
Ethical dilemmas are encountered frequently in long term facilities, encompassing a myriad of concerns related to end of life care, rehospitalization, artificial hydration and nutrition, capacity for decision making, use of sedation, and dealing with conflict that may arise amongst those caring for and about the patient. Having a formalized means of sorting through difficult cases is often not readily available in long term care facilities that have limited staffing and are often a remote distance from tertiary care centers where clinical ethicists tend to live professionally. A method is proposed to provide patients, families, and staff a means by which to systematically work through ethical dilemmas when formal ethics consultation is not available.
Fleming
David
D
University of Missouri Center for Health Ethics, USA. flemingd@health.missouri.edu
D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D006801:Humans; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000941:ethics*