Ethics and Care of the COVID-19 ICU Patient

During times of resource scarcity, entities for healthcare delivery should have a practiced framework in place to facilitate optimal delivery of medical care. That framework will allow ethical prioritization strategies to guide delivery of those scarce resources, with the goal of maximizing the benefit for the greatest number of people, rather than allocating the resources on a first-come, first-served basis. There has been evolution in ethical thought from the preparations made in 2009 for H1N1 to the very real prospects of treatment shortages experienced with COVID-19. The balance between an ideal strategy and one that has practical application during an acute crisis leaves much room for debate. 

Target Audience

Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Respiratory Therapists (Personal Growth), Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Social Workers, Clinical Chaplains, Medical Students and other interested healthcare professionals. 

Learning Objectives

  • Identify the fundamental values used to determine the ethical allocation of scarce resources for critically ill patients. 
  • Analyze local and national positions on ethical resource allocation strategies.
  • Describe team roles for the systemwide resource allocation plan at Baptist Health. 
Additional information
Bibliography: 
  • Chen, P., Nirula, A., Heller, B., Gottlieb, R. L., Boscia, J., Morris, J., Huhn, G., Cardona, J., Mocherla, B., Stosor, V., Shawa, I., Adams, A. C., Van Naarden, J., Custer, K. L., Shen, L., Durante, M., Oakley, G., Schade, A. E., Sabo, J., … Skovronsky, D. M. (2021). SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibody LY-CoV555 in Outpatients with Covid-19. New England Journal of Medicine, 384(3), 229–237.
  • Emanuel, E. J., Persad, G., Upshur, R., Thome, B., Parker, M., Glickman, A., Zhang, C., Boyle, C., Smith, M., & Phillips, J. P. (2020). Fair Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources in the Time of Covid-19. The New England journal of medicine, 382(21), 2049–2055.
  • Berlinger, N., Wynia, M., Powell, T., Hester, D. M., Milliken, A., Fabi, R., & Jenks, N. P. (2020). Ethical framework for health care institutions responding to novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) guidelines for institutional ethics services responding to COVID-19. The Hastings Center, 12.
     
Course Summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
  • 1.00 General certificate of attendance
  • 1.00 Florida Board of Clinical Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Mental Health Counselors
  • 1.00 Nurse Practitioners
  • 1.00 Florida Board of Nursing
  • 1.00 Florida Board of Pharmacy
  • 1.00 Florida Board of Respiratory Therapy
Course opens: 
06/01/2021
Course expires: 
06/01/2022

Moderator:
Rose M. Allen, DNP, MSM/HM, RN, CHPN, HEC-C
Director, Bioethics Program
Baptist Health South Florida

Speaker:
Eduardo Martinez-DuBouchet, M.D.
Telehealth Center Medical Director, eICU, Transfer Center
Baptist Health South Florida

Conference Director:
Ana M. Viamonte Ros, M.D., MPH
Medical Director, Palliative Care and Bioethics Department
Baptist Health South Florida
Associate Professor, Department of Health, Humanities and Society
Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Florida International University

Due to the non-clinical nature of the content discussed, the speakers have no relevant financial relationships to disclose. 

This CME activity will not cover content that would involve products or services of commercial interests. Therefore, no opportunity exists for a conflict of interest based on the financial relationships of faculty and those persons in control of content. Since these relationships are not relevant, no disclosure information was collected.

Disclosure Policy and Disclaimer

Baptist Health South Florida is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Baptist Health has been re-surveyed by the ACCME and awarded Commendation for 6 years as a provider of CME for physicians.
              
Baptist Health South Florida designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Available Credit

  • 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
  • 1.00 General certificate of attendance
  • 1.00 Florida Board of Clinical Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Mental Health Counselors
  • 1.00 Nurse Practitioners
  • 1.00 Florida Board of Nursing
  • 1.00 Florida Board of Pharmacy
  • 1.00 Florida Board of Respiratory Therapy
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