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Swedish Covenant Featured in Study on Ethics and Medical Treatment
CHICAGO, IL (September 5, 2003) - Swedish Covenant Hospital is among seven
U.S. hospitals that took part in a three-year study to determine the
effectiveness of ethics consulting in helping patients and their
families make informed decisions about the use and benefits of
life-sustaining treatments, even in cases when recovery seemed unlikely.
The study was reported in the September 3 issue of the Journal of the
American Medical Association. According to the report, most physicians,
nurses and patients who participated in ethics consulting in intensive
care units (ICU) said the consultations were helpful in addressing
treatment conflicts. Ethics consultations ensure that healthcare options
are clearly understood by patients and their families.
Researchers also found that for patients in the ICU, ethics
consultations resulted in a reduction of the use of treatments that
weren't wanted or that had no chance of restoring the patient's health.
The care of those patients who improved and eventually left the ICU was
not affected.
"When most people think of ethics in medicine, they think of
considerations involved in how physicians make decisions," said Daniel
Dugan, Ph.D., who heads ethics consulting at Swedish Covenant Hospital
and who oversaw the hospital's participation in the study. "But families
of critically ill patients are faced with gut-wrenching ethical
questions at a time when decision making is incredibly difficult. They
may benefit from the kind of support ethics consulting provides."
Ethics consulting is increasingly provided by U.S. hospitals and
consultations help with a wide range of issues in various circumstances,
including:
- Differences of opinions about whether life-sustaining intervention
or comfort care is best for a patient;
- Concerns by family or staff about whether aggressive treatments
benefit the patient; or
- Confusion or disagreement among family members over who should be
the decision maker when a patient is incapacitated.
Swedish Covenant Hospital was chosen to participate in the study
(coordinated by the University of Calfornia-San Diego) because it has an
active ethics consulting program and is one of a small number of
hospitals in the United States that has a medical ethicist on staff who
operates as part of the healthcare team. The research grant, funded by
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, was the largest ever
awarded to the Chicago hospital.
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