Inpatient psychiatric units are designed around the twin aims of treatment and containment, but emotional norms and tone also contribute to care environments.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(3):E232-236. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.232.
Dr Art Walaszek joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Drs William Smith and David Elkin: “How to Draw on Narrative to Mitigate Ageism.”
Constraints on hospitalists and surgeons and restricted orthopedic admission criteria can exacerbate patients’ distress that comes from clinicians’ disagreements.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(12):E873-877. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.873.
Dr Peter Steen joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Drs Nubia Chong, Maria Mirabela Bodic, Ludwing Salamanca, and Stephanie LeMelle: “What Should Students and Trainees Learn About Patient-Centered Documentation?”
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.
The gross negligence of the physicians who cared for Steve Biko, an apartheid-era South African political activist who died of injuries inflicted while in police custody, illustrates how dual loyalty—toward patients and, in this case, the state—makes performance of professional duties difficult.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(10):966-972. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.10.mhst1-1510.