Time-out: The Professional and Organizational Ethics of Speaking Up in the OR.
Participation in patient safety is one concrete expression of a foundational principle of medical ethics: do no harm. Being an ethical professional requires taking action to prevent harm to patients in health care environments. Checklists and time-outs have become common patient safety tools in the US and other nations. While their use can support ethical practice, recent research has revealed their limitations and has underscored the importance of interpersonal collaboration in developing and using these patient safety tools. This article summarizes key research and discusses the professional and organizational ethics of patient safety, using the surgical time-out as a case study.
Research scholar at the Hastings Center in Garrison, New York.
Nancy
N
Berlinger
Research assistant and project manager at the Hastings Center in Garrison, New York.
Elizabeth
E
Dietz
D057189:Checklist; D032781:Codes of Ethics; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D004991:Ethics, Institutional; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D009873:Operating Rooms; D061214:Patient Safety; D000068616:Professionalism; D000067494:Time Out, Healthcare