Medical Ethics Made Easy

Case managers (CMs) today are involved in many different care scenarios. They collaborate with many professionals in the multidisciplinary care team. CMs work to facilitate improved patient outcomes and help patients, family members, and providers establish and work toward similar goals. Often these involve end-of-life and critical care, which can call ethics consultations or utilization of other resources to help facilitate communication toward these goals. The objective of this article was to help increase CMs comfort level with starting to apply the 4 basic ethical principles to practice in basic concept.

Inpatient acute care as well as outpatient settings, such as physician offices, and home health care settings.

Knowledge and a comfort level in applying the 4 ethical principles can help establish the CM role in facilitating communication among care providers, as they work toward a common goal in the treatment plan. Understanding the principles and applying them in basic concept can help CMs participate in conflict resolution or appropriate referrals to ethics committees.

Complex medical situations and care issues can lead to conflicts. Knowledge of basic ethical principles and core concepts may be a useful tool for CMs as they collaborate and communicate with patients, family members, and health care providers. Facilitating communication about the treatment plan, and acting as patient advocate, can optimize outcomes and potentially reduce length of stay.