Ethical conflicts during the process of deciding about ICU admission: an empirically driven ethical analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Besides balancing burdens and benefits of intensive care, ethical conflicts in the process of decision-making should also be recognised. This calls for an ethical analysis relevant to clinicians. The aim was to analyse ethically difficult situations in the process of deciding whether a patient is admitted to intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods

Analysis using the 'Dilemma method' and 'wide reflective equilibrium', on ethnographic data of 45 patient cases and 96 stakeholder interviews in six UK hospitals.

Ethical analysis

Four moral questions and associated value conflicts were identified. (1) Who should have the right to decide whether a patient needs to be reviewed? Conflicting perspectives on safety/security. (2) Does the benefit to the patient of getting t

SUBMITTER: Svantesson M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8639921 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature