Clinicians caring for elderly relatives may gain only a small individual health benefit, but their vaccination may prevent COVID-19 in the people they look after and allow them to return to their office without worrying so much about passing the virus to their elderly loved ones. What criteria should be used to decide how to […]
Sally is a teacher at a local college that is requiring her and all students to vaccinate before returning to school. Sally refuses to vaccinate because, she says, of her religious beliefs. Is this requirement necessary? What are the risks? Benefits? Which outweighs the other? Why? If, for personal reasons, a student or teacher refuses […]
Dr Smith, a mom of 4 children, is an ED physician. Her unit is typically full to capacity with Covid-19 patients of all ages and backgrounds. While she was able, with the help of the ICU team, to stabilize and transfer some patients out of the ED, more are dying every day. PPE and ventilators […]
People are complex. Shared, unique, and behavior-specific factors drive our decisions and actions. All block or facilitate what we do or don’t do. What are 3 causes for emotional barriers to healthcare? What are 5 intellectual biases? What other factors affect patient decision-making? Treatment recommendations? Apply Theory (Specific Professional Healthcare Competencies + Clinical Medical Ethical […]
MJ is diagnosed with bladder cancer but does not wish to have surgery. After MJ chose non-conventional treatment and refused surgery twice, her doctor tells her that she cannot be her doctor any longer. A repeat biopsy confirmed the high-grade invasive tumor. Dr C called her with the biopsy results. She said, “MJ, you have […]
A woman learns that the baby girl she is carrying is thought to have Down’s Syndrome and possibly other minor physical abnormalities. She is told, although the child will be born with disabilities, the child will have a good chance at an otherwise relatively long and healthy life. The mother states that any disability is […]
Gladys watched her mother’s long slide into Alzheimer’s type dementia. When her mother was diagnosed with a UTI Gladys did not want the doctors to treat it, stating that her mother’s dementia made her another person and not the person she was. For that reason, she thinks her mother would not want to continue living […]
A twenty-month old Puerto-Rican boy is brought to the clinic by his mother who believes he has a folk gastrointestinal illness, called empacho. His mother has been out of work with a back injury and lacks support, and the child has no signs of pathological illness. What discussion does this case need and why? Who […]
Russell Ohan has a disability. As the result of temporal lobe damage, he has epilepsy and a type of obsessive behavior known as perseveration. Some consequences of Russell’s perseveration are that he is literal, concrete and suspicious. Russell received two messages from his health care providers. Neurologists told him his epilepsy is evidence of unusual […]
Jose, a non-English speaking immigrant, requires health care but is not able to understand the healthcare system, language to convey his symptoms or understand his treatment recommendations. What skills are required to bride the two worlds between patient and practitioners? What is required by the organization? Apply Theory (Specific Professional Healthcare Competencies + Clinical Medical […]
Camille M. Renella, RN, CME, LNC
Clinical Medical Ethicist/Legal Nurse Consultant
Institute of Medicine Chicago (IOMC) Fellow
Executive Director