Hospital-Based Survey of Patients and Families Experiences with Ethical Questions

Clinical Center

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Abstract

This study involves a survey of up to 1200 patients and family members in 5 hospitals in the Washington DC and Baltimore metropolitan area that is designed to identify the experiences that individuals face regarding ethical issues in the course of their own or their family members clinical care. The survey is designed to answer the following questions: 1. What clinically relevant ethical questions do individuals face with regard to their own or their loved ones clinical care? 2.Have these individuals approached any members of their healthcare team to discuss these ethical questions? 3.What would make these individuals more comfortable approaching members of their healthcare team? 4.Have these individuals heard of clinical ethics consultants? 5.How interested are these individuals in using ethics consultation services? The intent of the research is to learn of potential areas of improvements in ethical encounters with healthcare providers, as well as with clinical ethics consultations, and to optimize the use of clinical ethics services in inpatient hospital settings. As of August 2019 approximately 500 surveys have been completed. Analysis of qualitative data from the first several hundred respondents has begun to learn about the most memorable ethical concerns that patients and family members have experienced during illness and medical care.