Chaplains can mediate between physicians and families by clarifying religious issues for physicians, who can then present treatment options informed by a patient’s priorities. Ideally, family and religious values and a physician’s judgment should work together to inform decision making.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(7):E670-674. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.670.
Critical skills required to weigh decisions with serious consequences, manipulate information rationally, and choose wisely are skills that are likely to be impaired by frontal lobe injury that results in personality change.
In clinical settings, chaplains are key communicators who help mediate between patients, families, and the medical team. This month on Ethics Talk, we explore how chaplains help patients and families articulate their goals and navigate logistical and emotional challenges that arise in the hospital.
An emerging medical ethics issue is whether to delay posting pathology reports to electronic health records (EHR) to allow clinicians time to follow up.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(8):826-832. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.8.pfor1-1608.
In the same way that we learn about normal variations in blood pressure, we need to learn about “normal” variations in sexual interests and practices. We want to avoid clueless questions or unintentionally inflammatory statements.
Research is often conducted without the knowledge or consent of those whose tissues are banked and poses possible harms to social groups if information about a few members is unscientifically applied to all.