Pediatric Discharge From the Emergency Department Against Medical Advice.

In this Ethics Rounds we present a conflict regarding discharge planning for a febrile infant in the emergency department. The physician believes discharge would be unsafe and would constitute a discharge against medical advice. The child's mother believes her son has been through an already extensive and painful evaluation and would prefer to monitor her well-appearing son closely at home with a safety plan and a next-day outpatient visit. Commentators assess this case from the perspective of best interest, harm-benefit, conflict management, and nondiscriminatory care principles and prioritize a high-quality informed consent process. They characterize the formalization of discharge against medical advice as problematic. Pediatricians, a pediatric resident, ethicists, an attorney, and mediator provide a range of perspectives to inform ethically justifiable options and conflict resolution practices.

The influence of culture on care receivers' satisfaction and aggressive tendencies in the emergency department.

INTRODUCTION: Reducing aggressive tendencies among care receivers in the emergency department has great economic and psychological benefits for care receivers, staff, and health care organizations. In a study conducted in a large multicultural hospital emergency department, we examined how cultural factors relating to ethnicity interact to enhance care receivers' satisfaction and reduce their aggressive tendencies. Specifically, we explored how care receivers' cultural affiliation, individual cultural characteristics, and the cultural situational setting interact to increase care receivers' satisfaction and reduce their aggressive tendencies. METHOD: Data were collected using survey responses from 214 care receivers. We use structural equation models and the bootstrap method to analyze the data. RESULTS: Care receivers' openness to diversity (an individual cultural characteristic) was positively related to their satisfaction that was associated with lower aggressive tendencies, only when they were affiliated with a cultural minority group and when the cultural situational setting included language accessibility. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that cultural affiliation, individual cultural characteristics, and cultural situational setting can affect care receivers' satisfaction and aggressive tendencies in a multicultural emergency department context. In particular, high cultural openness of care receivers, and making information accessible in their native language, increased satisfaction and reduced aggressive tendencies among cultural minority care receivers in our study.

Policed Patients: How the Presence of Law Enforcement in the Emergency Department Impacts Medical Care.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine how physicians understand the role of law enforcement in the emergency department (ED) and to identify how the presence of law enforcement officers may impact the delivery of emergency medical care. METHODS: In this qualitative study, we conducted semistructured interviews with 20 emergency physicians practicing in county EDs across 3 health care systems in Northern California between November 2017 and September 2018. Participants were recruited using snowball sampling and included 10 board-certified physicians and 10 resident physicians. We analyzed the interview content using grounded theory, where concepts from interview data were coded, grouped by theme, and compared over consecutive interviews to identify recurrent themes. RESULTS: Participants reported interacting frequently with law enforcement officers while treating patients. Most participants characterized their experiences with law enforcement as "mixed" or "variable." Positive interactions with officers, who were described as helpful and collegial, contrasted with instances in which respondents felt police presence led to interruptions in treatment, breaches in health privacy, and potentially diminished patient trust. Participants reported that, at times, the authority of officers in the ED felt unclear and ill-defined, leading to contentious interactions between officers and health care personnel. CONCLUSION: Lack of clear definition of the role of law enforcement officers in the ED may lead to contentious interactions with emergency physicians. Further research on the medical impacts of police presence in health care settings and on best practices for mitigating negative impacts is needed.

The ethical dilemma of emergency department patients with low-risk chest pain.

Millions of patients present to US EDs each year with symptoms concerning for acute coronary syndrome (ACS), but fewer than 10% are ultimately diagnosed with ACS. Well-tested and externally validated accelerated diagnostic protocols were developed to aid providers in risk stratifying patients with possible ACS and have become central components of current ED practice guidelines. Nevertheless, the fear of missing ACS continues to be a strong motivator for ED providers to pursue further testing for their patients. An ethical dilemma arises when the provider must balance the risk of ACS if the patient is discharged compared with the potential harms caused by a cardiac workup. Providers should be familiar with the ethical principles relevant to this dilemma in order to determine what is in the best interests of the patient.

Informed consent for invasive procedures in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: Informed consent for procedures in the emergency department (ED) challenges practitioners to navigate complex ethical and medical ambiguities. A patient's altered mental status or emergent medical problem does not negate the importance of his or her participation in the decision-making process but, rather, necessitates a nuanced assessment of the situation to determine the appropriate level of participation. Given the complexities involved with informed consent for procedures in the ED, it is important to understand the experience of key stakeholders involved. METHODS: For this review, we searched Medline, the Cochrane database, and Clinicaltrials.gov for studies involving informed consent in the ED. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were designed to select for studies that included issues related to informed consent as primary outcomes. The following data was extracted from included studies: Title, authors, date of publication, study type, participant type (i.e. adult patient, pediatric patient, parent of pediatric patient, patient's family, or healthcare provider), number of participants, and primary outcomes measured. RESULTS: Fifteen articles were included for final review. Commonly addressed themes included medical education (7 of 15 studies), surrogate decision-making (5 of 15 studies), and patient understanding (4 of 15 studies). The least common theme addressed in the literature was community notification (1 of 15 studies). CONCLUSIONS: Studies of informed consent for procedures in the ED span many aspects of informed consent. The aim of the present narrative review is to summarize the work that has been done on informed consent for procedures in the ED.

NeuroEthics and End of Life Care.

The emergency department is where the patient and potential ethical challenges are first encountered. Patients with acute neurologic illness introduce a unique set of dilemmas related to the pressure for ultra-early prognosis in the wake of rapidly advancing treatments. Many with neurologic injury are unable to provide autonomous consent, further complicating the picture, potentially asking uncertain surrogates to make quick decisions that may result in significant disability. The emergency department physician must take these ethical quandaries into account to provide standard of care treatment.

Towards medicine of excellence in Mexico: the "Código Infarto" protocol, a view from the perspective of translational bioethics.

INTRODUCTION: Mexico is the country with the highest mortality due to ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI), and the IMSS has therefore developed the protocol of care for emergency departments called Código Infarto (Infarction Code). In this article, aspects of translational medicine are discussed with a bioethical and comprehensive perspective. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the Código Infarto protocol from the perspective of translational bioethics. METHOD: A problem-centered approach was carried out through reflective equilibrium (or Rawls' method), as well as by applying the integral method for ethical discernment. RESULTS: The protocol of care for emergency services Código Infarto is governed by evidence-based medicine and value-based medicine; it is guided by a principle of integrity that considers six dimensions of quality for the care of patients with STEMI. CONCLUSION: The protocol overcomes some adverse social determinants that affect STEMI medical care, reduces mortality and global economic disease burden, and develops medicine of excellence with high social reach.

INTRODUCCIÓN: México es el país con mayor mortalidad por infarto agudo de miocardio con elevación del segmento ST (IAM CEST), por lo que el Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social desarrolló el protocolo de atención para los servicios de urgencias denominado Código Infarto. En este artículo se discuten aspectos de la medicina traslacional con una perspectiva bioética e integral. OBJETIVO: Analizar el protocolo Código Infarto desde la perspectiva de la bioética traslacional. MÉTODO: Se realizó una aproximación centrada en el problema a través del equilibrio reflexivo, así como la aplicación del método integral para el discernimiento ético. RESULTADOS: El protocolo de atención para los servicios de urgencias Código Infarto se rige por la medicina basada en la evidencia y la medicina basada en valores; se orienta por el principio de integridad que considera las seis dimensiones de la calidad para la atención de pacientes con IAM CEST. CONCLUSIÓN: El protocolo supera algunos determinantes sociales adversos que afectan la atención médica del IAM CEST, disminuye la mortalidad, la carga económica global de la enfermedad y desarrolla una medicina de excelencia de alto alcance social.

Intensive and pharmacological care in times of COVID-19: A "special ethics" for emergency?

BACKGROUND: The Authors have laid out an analysis of Italian COVID-19 confirmed data and fatality rates, pointing out how a dearth of health care resources in northern regions has resulted in hard, ethically challenging decisions in terms of granting patient access to intensive care units (ICU). MAIN TEXT: Having to make such decisions certainly entails substantial difficulties, and that has led many health care professional to seek ethical guidance. The Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) has attempted to meet that growing need by a set of recommendations, applying "clinical soundness" as a beacon standard; that approach tends to prioritize patients with higher life expectancy, which could be characterized as a "moderately utilitarian" approach. Yet, such a selection has engendered daunting ethical quandaries. The authors believe it can only be warranted and acceptable if rooted in a transparent decision-making process and verifiable, reviewed criteria. Moreover, the authors have stressed how clinical experimentation in a pandemic setting is a subtext of great interest from an ethical perspective. In Italy, no drug therapy and trials were undertaken for COVID-19 patients for a rather long period of time. When the epidemic was already circulating, an intervention proved necessary on the system of administrative procedures, aimed at expediting the authorization and validation of protocols, then bogged down by bureaucracy. A new system has since been instituted by a government decree that was signed about one month after the first Covid-19 case was officially recorded in the country. Such a swift implementation, which took just a few weeks, is noteworthy and proves that clinical trials can be initiated in a timely fashion, even with a pandemic unfolding. The concerted, action of supportive care and RCTs is the only way to attain effective forms of treatments for COVID-19 and any other future outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: The authors have arrived at the conclusion that the most effective and ethically sound response on the part of any national health care system would be to adequately reconfigure its organizational mechanisms, by making clinical trials and all related administrative procedures consistent with the current state of emergency.

Emergency-Only Hemodialysis Policies: Ethical Critique and Avenues for Reform.

An estimated 6,500 undocumented immigrants in the United States have been diagnosed with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). These individuals are ineligible for the federal insurance program that covers dialysis and/or transplantation for citizens, and consequently are subject to local or state policies regarding the provision of healthcare. In 76% of states, undocumented immigrants are ineligible to receive scheduled outpatient dialysis treatments, and typically receive dialysis only when presenting to the emergency center with severe life-threatening symptoms. 'Emergency-only hemodialysis' (EOHD) is associated with higher healthcare costs, higher mortality, and longer hospitalizations. In this paper, we present an ethical critique of existing federal policy. We argue that EOHD represents a failure of fiduciary and professional obligations, contributes to moral distress, and undermines physician obligations to be good stewards of medical resources. We then explore potential avenues for reform based upon policies introduced at the state level. We argue that, while reform at the federal level would ultimately be a more sustainable long-term solution, state-based policy reforms can help mitigate the ethical shortcomings of EOHD.

Hacia una medicina de excelencia en México: el protocolo Código Infarto, una visión desde la bioética traslacional / Towards medicine of excellence in Mexico: the "Código Infarto" protocol, a view from the perspective of translational bioethics

Resumen Introducción: México es el país con mayor mortalidad por infarto agudo de miocardio con elevación del segmento ST (IAM CEST), por lo que el Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social desarrolló el protocolo de atención para los servicios de urgencias denominado Código Infarto. En este artículo se discuten aspectos de la medicina traslacional con una perspectiva bioética e integral. Objetivo: Analizar el protocolo Código Infarto desde la perspectiva de la bioética traslacional. Método: Se realizó una aproximación centrada en el problema a través del equilibrio reflexivo, así como la aplicación del método integral para el discernimiento ético. Resultados: El protocolo de atención para los servicios de urgencias Código Infarto se rige por la medicina basada en la evidencia y la medicina basada en valores; se orienta por el principio de integridad que considera las seis dimensiones de la calidad para la atención de pacientes con IAM CEST. Conclusión: El protocolo supera algunos determinantes sociales adversos que afectan la atención médica del IAM CEST, disminuye la mortalidad, la carga económica global de la enfermedad y desarrolla una medicina de excelencia de alto alcance social.

Abstract Introduction: Mexico is the country with the highest mortality due to ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI), and the IMSS has therefore developed the protocol of care for emergency departments called Código Infarto (Infarction Code). In this article, aspects of translational medicine are discussed with a bioethical and comprehensive perspective. Objective: To analyze the Código Infarto protocol from the perspective of translational bioethics. Method: A problem-centered approach was carried out through reflective equilibrium (or Rawls' method), as well as by applying the integral method for ethical discernment. Results: The protocol of care for emergency services Código Infarto is governed by evidence-based medicine and value-based medicine; it is guided by a principle of integrity that considers six dimensions of quality for the care of patients with STEMI. Conclusion: The protocol overcomes some adverse social determinants that affect STEMI medical care, reduces mortality and global economic disease burden, and develops medicine of excellence with high social reach.

The Hang Up.

Over the past year, our ethics service has had numerous consultations involving patients who use the emergency department for regular dialysis. Sometimes, they have access to outpatient hemodialysis that they forgo; other times, they've been "fired" from this kind of outpatient facility, and so the ED is their last option. In most of these cases, we're called because the patient is disruptive once admitted to the ICU and behavior plans haven't helped. But the call from a resident this March 2020 morning was different, the patient had end-stage renal disease and often missed hemodialysis, but he wasn't disruptive. "It's just that he comes in after using cocaine, and given scarcity with the coronavirus and ICU beds…." I have come to think that this is one of the more insidious effects of the pandemic: that there will be a resurgence of the view that some patients deserve health care by virtue of their compliant behavior and that those who are nonadherent don't.

Clinical and ethical challenges for emergency departments during communicable disease outbreaks: Can lessons from Ebola Virus Disease be applied to the COVID-19 pandemic?

EDs fulfil a frontline function during public health emergencies (PHEs) and will play a pivotal role during the COVID-19 pandemic. This perspective article draws on qualitative data from a longitudinal, ethnographic study of an Australian tertiary ED to illustrate the clinical and ethical challenges faced by EDs during PHEs. Interview data collected during the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease PHE of International Concern suggest that ED clinicians have a strong sense of professional responsibility, but this can be compromised by increased visibility of risk and sub-optimal engagement from hospital managers and public health authorities. The study exposes the tension between a healthcare worker's right to protection and a duty to provide treatment. Given the narrow window of opportunity to prepare for a surge of COVID-19 presentations, there is an immediate need to reflect and learn from previous experiences. To maintain the confidence of ED clinicians, and minimise the risk of moral injury, hospital and public health authorities must urgently develop processes to support ethical healthcare delivery and ensure adequate resourcing of EDs.

Confronting Subconscious Bias: Ethics in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Physicians are only human. Upon graduating from medical school, physicians take an oath declaring veracity and fidelity toward our patients. We are told to lay aside negative feelings toward patients in exchange for integrity, truth, honor, and compassion. The idea is simple, but following through on it is quite a challenge. Pediatric emergency medicine physicians generally have rapid focused patient interactions, yet even in these brief encounters, instantaneous and subconscious reactions to difficult patients occur. Difficult patients are those who raise negative feelings within the clinician such as anxiety, frustration, guilt, and dislike. Recognition of these reactions and emotions will help physicians understand more about themselves, and assist in interacting more favorably with challenging patients. It is common for doctors to attempt to suppress their human reactions to maintain clinical objectivity, yet these reactions facilitate a better doctor-patient relationship. Allowing ourselves to yield to our emotions help the patient realize that the physician is a human being.

Health Equity Demands Health Literacy: Ethics in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

The ability of the patient or the parent, in pediatrics, to read, understand, and act upon health information is termed health literacy. Health literacy has been shown to be of primary importance when determining a patient's ability to achieve optimal health. As physicians, we often fail to recognize the enormous obstacles facing our patients. In the pediatric emergency department (PED), communication is complicated. Physicians must be able to effectively relay information to the patient's caregiver while still not forgetting to provide developmentally appropriate instructions to the child. Individuals who do not have a good understanding of what is needed to properly care for themselves or their children are at a disadvantage, and it is therefore the responsibility of the pediatric provider to do all they can to identify gaps in health literacy. As providers, we need to always be questioning as to whether we properly conveyed the information to our patients. Teaching which results in good understanding is the ultimate goal when treating and releasing our patients in the pediatric emergency department. Matching the method of delivery of information and education to the family's health literacy will help the care team deliver effective information so that it is applied at home hopefully preventing a rapid revisit.

Family presence in the trauma setting: A case study.

The topic of family presence during resuscitation (FPDR) has been in the medical literature for several decades. However, these discussions have largely failed to delineate a difference between resuscitation of patients in cardiac arrest and the resuscitation and stabilisation of trauma victims before a necessary procedure. Through a case-based scenario, this primer aims to explore the ethical considerations of FPDR in emergent trauma care - particularly in the case of a motor vehicle collision. In doing so, consideration is given to the relevant aspects of patient dignity and privacy; as well as to the benefits of exposing family to clinician efforts, including how FPDR can aid in the grieving process.

Audiovisual recording in the emergency department: Ethical and legal issues.

Emergency physicians, organizations and healthcare institutions should recognize the value to clinicians and patients of HIPAA-compliant audiovisual recording in emergency departments (ED). They should promote consistent specialty-wide policies that emphasize protecting patient privacy, particularly in patient-care areas, where patients and staff have a reasonable expectation of privacy and should generally not be recorded without their prospective consent. While recordings can help patients understand and recall vital parts of their ED experience and discharge instructions, using always-on recording devices should be regulated and restricted to areas in which patient care is not occurring. Healthcare institutions should provide HIPAA-compliant methods to securely store and transmit healthcare-sensitive recordings and establish protocols. Protocols should include both consent procedures their staff can use to record and publish (print or electronic) audiovisual images and appropriate disciplinary measures for staff that violate them. EDs and institutions should publicly post their rules governing ED recordings, including a ban on all surreptitious or unconsented recordings. However, local institutions may lack the ability to enforce these rules without multi-party consent statutes in those states (the majority) where it doesn't exist. Clinicians imaging patients in international settings should be guided by the same ethical norms as they are at their home institution.