During immediate and long-term recovery periods, decisions must account for patients’ personal goals and possible clinical outcomes and should clarify what recovery means.

My most important job is to help my patients (and their families) who are depressed, grieving, or angry following severe injury or illness to imagine possible narratives for the next chapter of life.

In treating sports injuries in athletes who may wish to return to play before fully recovering, physicians can simultaneously uphold the principles of respect for autonomy and beneficence by developing a return-to-play plan, which allows patients to take responsibility for meeting goals at each stage of their recovery.

Because knowledge about the efficacy of long-term opioid use is lacking, decisions about opioid treatment for chronic nonmalignant pain should be guided by a six-step decision making process that is based in clinical ethics.