Paramedic delivery of bad news: A novel dilemma during the COVID-19 crisis

Tools

Campbell, Iain ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3834-1647 (2021) Paramedic delivery of bad news: A novel dilemma during the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Medical Ethics, 47 (1). pp. 16-19. ISSN 0306-6800

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract

As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, paramedics in the UK face unprecedented challenges in the care of acutely unwell patients and their family members. This article will describe and discuss a new ethical dilemma faced by clinicians in the out-of-hospital environment during this time, namely the delivery of bad news to family members who are required to remain at home and self-isolate while the critically unwell patient is transported to hospital. I will discuss some failings of current practice and reflect on some of the ethical and practical challenges confronting paramedics in these circumstances. I conclude by making three recommendations: first, that dedicated pastoral outreach teams ought to be set up during pandemics to assist family members of patients transported to hospital; second, I offer a framework for how bad news can be delivered during a lockdown in a less damaging way; and finally, that a new model of bad news delivery more suited for unplanned, time-pressured care should be developed.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: clinical ethics,emergency medicine,issues, ethics and legal aspects,health(social science),arts and humanities (miscellaneous),health policy ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2900/2910
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
Related URLs:
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 16 Oct 2024 11:30
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2024 15:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/97039
DOI: 10.1136/medethics-2020-106710

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item