Which are the most prevalent ethical conflicts for Spanish internists?
Rev Clin Esp 2021;
221:393-399. [PMID:
34332701 DOI:
10.1016/j.rceng.2020.05.015]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Clinicians face a multitude of ethical conflicts in their daily practice. There have been no studies on the types of ethical conflicts encountered most frequently and that are of most concern to clinicians in Spain. The aim of this study is to report the most common ethical conflicts faced by Spanish internists, as well as the importance that the practitioners attribute to each conflict.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Our observational cross-sectional study employed a voluntary and anonymous survey aimed at Spanish medical internists and distributed through an ad hoc platform of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine.
RESULTS
The most common and relevant ethical issues for Spanish internists are related to patients' end of life (decisions limiting therapeutic effort, use of palliative treatments, the establishment of do-not-resuscitate orders), the conflicts arising within the doctor-patient/family relationship, and making decisions with noncompetent patients. These results are similar to those of other English and European series. The ethical problems further complicate the healthcare activity of clinicians who more often notice these problems (50.3%) than those who do not notice them (16%).
CONCLUSIONS
The most common and relevant ethical conflicts among Spanish internists are related to managing patients' end of life, followed by those related to the doctor-patient relationship and the management of noncompetent patients. It is essential that training programs be designed to better address and recognise these problems.
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