Turfing is a colloquialism that refers to what clinicians do to patients whose needs do not fit neatly and tidily into typical clinical placement protocols.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(12):E885-891. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.885.
Decisions about where and to whose professional stewardship patients are admitted are influenced by federal policies of which physicians might not be aware.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(12):E901-908. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.901.
Dr Jennifer T. McIntosh joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Mona Shattell: “How Should Suicide Prevention and Healing Be Expressed as Goals of Inpatient Psychiatric Unit Design?”
Dr Matthew L. Edwards joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr Nathaniel P. Morris: “How Inpatient Psychiatric Units Can Be Both Safe and Therapeutic.”
The physician must help patients understand that all options—further testing, surgery, no action—carry risks and benefits. Disclosing the statistical probability of injury and other possible outcomes might help, but it can also hinder the process.
After assessing the reasons for a patient’s unrealistic hopefulness in the face of clear understanding, a clinician may believe that significant harm will come to the patient if he or she does not acknowledge the seriousness of the illness.
Requirements for informed consent are relatively vague and the exceptions are few, so it is in the physician’s best interest to inform patients about proposed treatment options, ascertain that they understand their choices, and secure their consent.