scholarly journals Ethical Issues in Canadian Gastroenterology: Resluts of a Survey of Canadian Gastroenterology Trainees

2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 315-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Malhotra ◽  
Clifford A Ottaway
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
National Meeting ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Bioethical Issues ◽  
Bioethical Education

BACKGROUND:Specialty-specific bioethical education is a mandated component of gastroenterology training programs in Canada, but no gastroenterology-specific bioethical curriculum is available.PURPOSE:To assess the relative importance of a variety of bioethical issues to the practice of gastroenterology.METHOD:A convenience sample of Canadian gastroenterology residents and staff was surveyed at a national meeting for Canadian gastroenterology trainees. They were asked to indicate their opinions of the relative importance of 24 different bioethical issues in their practice of gastroenterology.RESULTS:Respondents made distinctions in the relevance of different bioethical issues to the practice of gastroenterology and there was substantial concordance in the rankings indicated by residents and staff. Truth telling, consent and the capacity to give consent, and consent with regard to specific endoscopic procedures were ranked by both residents and staff as most important to their practice of gastroenterology. In contrast, the issue of euthanasia and assisted suicide was ranked near the bottom of the list by both residents and staff. The results differ in some respects from the key ethical questions identified by opinion leaders in gastroenterology.INTERPRETATION:Gastroenterology residents and staff identify some topics as much more relevant than others to the practice of gastroenterology. It is proposed that this can provide a framework for developing a gastroenterology-specific bioethical curriculum, and that there is an important opportunity for developing a joint program through collaboration among gastroenterology training programs across Canada.

scholarly journals Managing ethical issues in patient care and the need for clinical ethics support

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Doran ◽  
Jennifer Fleming ◽  
Christopher Jordens ◽  
Cameron L Stewart ◽  
Julie Letts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Care ◽  
Clinical Ethics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Clinical Ethics Support ◽  
Ethical Environment ◽  
Ethics Support ◽  
A Priority

Objective To investigate the range, frequency and management of ethical issues encountered by clinicians working in hospitals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted of a convenience sample of 104 medical, nursing and allied health professionals in two NSW hospitals. Results Some respondents did not provide data for some questions, therefore the denominator is less than 105 for some items. Sixty-two (62/104; 60%) respondents reported occasionally to often having ethical concerns. Forty-six (46/105; 44%) reported often to occasionally having legal concerns. The three most common responses to concerns were: talking to colleagues (96/105; 91%); raising the issue in a group forum (68/105; 65%); and consulting a relevant guideline (64/105; 61%). Most respondents were highly (65/99; 66%) or moderately (33/99; 33%) satisfied with the ethical environment of the hospital. Twenty-two (22/98; 22%) were highly satisfied with the ethical environment of their department and 74 (74/98; 76%) were moderately satisfied. Most (72/105; 69%) respondents indicated that additional support in dealing with ethical issues would be helpful. Conclusion Clinicians reported frequently experiencing ethical and legal uncertainty and concern. They usually managed this by talking with colleagues. Although this approach was considered adequate, and the ethics of their hospital was reported to be satisfactory, most respondents indicated that additional assistance with ethical and legal concerns would be helpful. Clinical ethics support should be a priority of public hospitals in NSW and elsewhere in Australia. What is known about the topic? Clinicians working in hospitals in the US, Canada and UK have access to ethics expertise to help them manage ethical issues that arise in patient care. How Australian clinicians currently manage the ethical issues they face has not been investigated. What does this paper add? This paper describes the types of ethical issues faced by Australian clinicians, how they manage these issues and whether they think ethics support would be helpful. What are the implications for practitioners? Clinicians frequently encounter ethically and legally difficult decisions and want additional ethics support. Helping clinicians to provide ethically sound patient care should be a priority of public hospitals in NSW and elsewhere in Australia.

scholarly journals Verdighet og selvbestemmelse – En aktørbasert forestilling om menneskeverdet

2019 ◽  
pp. 191-213
Author(s):  
Sven Arntzen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Rational Agent ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Absolute

Dignity, according to one conception, is the absolute, inherent and inalienable value of every person. There is general agreement that this idea of dignity has a source in Immanuel Kant’s moral philosophy. I argue that Kant formulates what I characterize as an agency or agent based conception of dignity. Persons are bearers of dignity in their capacity as moral subjects and subjects of action. Central here is the idea that a rational agent is the subject of “any end whatsoever” and so must be considered the free cause of actions. Accordingly, to be treated merely as a thing, or “as a means”, is to be treated in a manner incompatible with having and acting for the sake of any end of one’s choosing. Also relevant in this connection is Alan Gewirth’s agency based theories of dignity and of human rights. I then consider this conception of dignity in addressing three ethical issues: to let die or keep alive, assisted suicide, and so-called dwarf-tossing. Finally, I consider challenges to the idea of dignity in general and the agency based conception of dignity in particular.

Head Scanning Behavior Predicts Hazard Detection Safety Before Entering an Intersection

2021 ◽  
pp. 001872082110391
Author(s):  
Steven W. Savage ◽  
Lily Zhang ◽  
Garrett Swan ◽  
Alex R. Bowers
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Head Movement ◽  
Driving Simulator ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Driver Training ◽  
Hazard Detection ◽  
Simulator Study ◽  
Older Subjects ◽  
Scanning Behavior

Objective We conducted a driving simulator study to investigate scanning and hazard detection before entering an intersection. Background Insufficient scanning has been suggested as a factor contributing to intersection crashes. However, little is known about the relative importance of the head and eye movement components of that scanning in peripheral hazard detection. Methods Eleven older (mean 67 years) and 18 younger (mean 27 years) current drivers drove in a simulator while their head and eye movements were tracked. They completed two city drives (42 intersections per drive) with motorcycle hazards appearing at 16 four-way intersections per drive. Results Older subjects missed more hazards (10.2% vs. 5.2%). Failing to make a scan with a substantial head movement was the primary reason for missed hazards. When hazards were detected, older drivers had longer RTs (2.6s vs. 2.3s), but drove more slowly; thus, safe response rates did not differ between the two groups (older 83%; younger 82%). Safe responses were associated with larger (28.8° vs. 20.6°) and more numerous (9.4 vs. 6.6) gaze scans. Scans containing a head movement were stronger predictors of safe responses than scans containing only eye movements. Conclusion Our results highlight the importance of making large scans with a substantial head movement before entering an intersection. Eye-only scans played little role in detection and safe responses to peripheral hazards. Application Driver training programs should address the importance of making large scans with a substantial head movement before entering an intersection.

The Ethics of Medical Tourism

2015 ◽  
pp. 79-88
Author(s):  
Nader Ghotbi
Keyword(s):  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Medical Tourism ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Therapeutic Massage ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
Almost All

Medical tourism is rapidly growing. There are various reasons for this form of travel; from having life-saving surgery, receiving organ transplants and other vital operations, to therapeutic massage, using hot spas, and cosmetic surgery, and from receiving assistance with infertility to assisted suicide services at particular destinations. Some forms of medical tourism have strong ethical issues attached to them, but there are also ethical issues that may apply to almost all cases, and these can be discussed in a general way. This chapter discusses fundamental definitions of the concepts and general ethical issues in medical tourism, and then explains in more detail some of the moral issues in medical tourism that need to be examined from an ethical standpoint. The chapter establishes common ground for discussion based on broadly accepted principles that can be used almost universally as general guidelines for ethical decision-making in medical tourism activities.

Geospatial Technology

2012 ◽  
pp. 35-45
Author(s):  
Richard G. Boehm ◽  
Audrey Mohan
Keyword(s):  
Training Programs ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
Final Conclusion ◽  
Degree Programs ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Science Department ◽  
Geospatial Technology ◽  
Important Position ◽  
And Function ◽  
And Training

Research into the nature and function of curricular matters in applied geography has provided an opportunity to assess the penetration and relative importance of geospatial technology to the discipline of geography. Departments of Geography with degree programs in applied geography were surveyed to find out how important geospatial technology was in the preparation of students for meaningful jobs and careers. The Applied Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) was also surveyed about the value of geospatial technology, as was the 95 academic programs that listed applied geography as a “program specialty” in the AAG Guide to Geography Programs in the Americas. There was a uniform agreement across these various groups that geospatial technology occupied an extremely important position in their overall course offerings, and if you are watching the workplace, such courses are not only sensible but offer critical employable skills for students upon graduation. It is widely known that geospatial technology education and training require a large commitment of departmental resources, including faculty lines, equipment expenditures, space, and technical support. A geography department and its university’s administration have to understand these unique requirements and allocate resources, more akin to a computer science department than a traditional academic unit. This reality is of immediate importance to geography departments because almost one quarter of all academic jobs advertised in geography over the last six years have been in the broad area of geospatial technology. A final conclusion to this research is a policy matter that suggests geography departments take a strong proprietorial position toward providing education in geospatial technology because other disciplines and training programs see opportunities in a rapidly expanding workplace skill and they are aggressively pursuing a niche of their own.

Social and Ethical Concerns of Biomedical Engineering Research and Practice

2011 ◽  
pp. 54-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snehasish Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Biomedical Engineering ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Bioethical Issues

Biomedical engineering is an advanced and relatively new field in the healthcare sector. Owing to the very nature of the various professional challenges faced by healthcare professionals, the moral and ethical values seem to have taken the backburner. The factors contributing to it may include a sound knowledge of the healthcare professional on the legally-permissible ethical values, and the desperate situations requiring precise split-moment decision-making. No technological advancement without a human face is worth it, and hence, during the course of the degree, a biomedical engineering student needs to be exposed to various ethical issues through theory, live cases and demonstrations. Being intrinsically multi- and inter-disciplinary, biomedical engineering lacks precise ethical rules that delineate and delimit professional responsibility, thus blurring the ethical understanding of biomedical engineering. The solution seems to lie in giving due place to human virtues. In the coming days, bioethical issues are expected to be increasingly complicated and dominating the decision-making process owing to the advancements in sciences, and the ever-complicated cases handled by healthcare professionals. A global healthcare and ethics-related online open-access portal may serve as a common platform for all the stakeholders in the interest and ethical growth of biomedical engineering in particular and medical sciences in general.

scholarly journals Nursing knowledge of and attitude in cardiopulmonary arrest: cross-sectional survey analysis

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verónica Tíscar-González ◽  
Joan Blanco-Blanco ◽  
Montserrat Gea-Sánchez ◽  
Ascensión Rodriguez Molinuevo ◽  
Teresa Moreno-Casbas
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Cardiopulmonary Arrest ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Survey Analysis ◽  
Cronbach’S Alpha ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cardiorespiratory Arrest ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Cronbach's Alpha ◽  
The Relationship

Background Nurses are often the first to activate the chain of survival when a cardiorespiratory arrest happens. That is why it is crucial that they keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date and their attitudes to resuscitation are very important. The main aim of this study was to analyse whether the level of theoretical and practical understanding affected the attitudes of nursing staff. Methods A questionnaire was designed using the Delphi technique (three rounds). The questionnaire was adjusted and it was piloted on a test-retest basis with a convenience sample of 30 registered nurses. The psychometric characteristics were evaluated using a sample of 347 nurses using Cronbach’s alpha. Descriptive analysis was performed to describe the sociodemographic variables and Spearman’s correlation coefficient to assess the relationship between two scale variables. Pearson’s chi-squared test has been used to study the relationship between two categorical variables. Wilcoxon Mann Whitney test and the Kruskal–Wallis test were performed to establish relationships between the demographic/work related characteristics and the level of understanding. Results The Knowledge and Attitude of Nurses in the Event of a Cardiorespiratory Arrest (CAEPCR) questionnaire comprised three sections: sociodemographic information, theoretical and practical understanding, and attitudes of ethical issues. Cronbach’s alpha for the internal consistency of the attitudes questionnaire was 0.621. The knowledge that nurses self-reported with regard to cardiopulmonary arrest directly affected their attitudes. Their responses raised a number of bioethical issues. Conclusions CAEPCR questionnaire is the first one which successfully linked knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the attitudes towards ethical issues Health policies should ensure that CPR training is mandatory for nurses and all healthcare workers, and this training should include the ethical aspects.

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