JONA'S healthcare law, ethics and regulation
-
Clinical ethics teams exist in various forms and have assisted care providers for several decades. Our clinical ethics service at an urban, tertiary, teaching hospital provides ethics consultation to care providers, patients, and their family members. Scenarios prompting an ethics consultation may be complex, often involving social, cultural, and fiscal components. ⋯ Our study results indicate that issues prompting ethics consults may potentially be identified as patients present to the ED. Rapid and effective interventions proscribed through institutional policy guidelines could greatly assist nurses and other ED providers in identifying these at-risk patients upon entry of the ED. Such a policy would ultimately benefit both patient and provider.