title: Ethics pocket cards: an educational tool for busy clinicians.
abstract: The adage "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is widely used in healthcare settings and can be applied to the work of institutional clinical ethics committees. The model of clinical ethics consultation, however, is inherently reactive: a crisis or question emerges, and ethics experts are called to help. In an effort to employ a proactive component to the model of clinical ethics consultation (as well as to standardize our educational interventions), we developed ethics pocket cards. The purpose of this article is to: (1) describe the rationale for using ethics pocket cards, (2) provide examples of our cards, and (3) begin a dialogue about the potential uses of ethics pocket cards. In doing so, we hope to explore how such portable, economical devices can advance the goals of ethics consultation as well as the educational aims of ethics committees.
authors: Clinical Ethics Consultation Service, Penn State College of Medicine, Milton S. Hersey Medical Center, Hershey, PA USA. rvolpe@hmc.psu.edu.
authors: Rebecca L
authors: RL
authors: Volpe
authors: Department of Humanities, Department of Pediatrics, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Children's Hospital, Hershey, PA USA.
authors: Benjamin H
authors: BH
authors: Levi
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Department of Humanities, Department of Psychiatry, Penn State College of Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA USA.
authors: George F
authors: GF
authors: Blackhall
authors: Department of Humanities, Department of Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA USA.
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Green
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001296:Audiovisual Aids / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D026688:Bioethical Issues; D003663:Decision Trees; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D017041:Ethics Committees; D033061:Ethics Consultation / Q000639:trends; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans