Ethical issues associated with acute care

Abstract

Acute care is accompanied by its own characteristics, different from chronic care. Acute care demands prompt decisions from the medical staff and in most cases, it is necessary to perform treatment immediately with limited resources and people. Because of this, it is not always possible to perform the fundamental process of “explanation and consent”, which is the basis of modern medicine, in an emergency situation. This can be accepted as an “emergency rule”, but efforts should be made not to rely on this. The situation should be explained to the patient and/or family without delay and it is vital to discuss the content of the treatment to be performed. Especially in the case where developing medicine has been chosen, it becomes necessary to completely express one’s intentions. After careful consideration with the patient and/or the patient’s family regarding the patient’s QOL, the situation may arise where a decision must be made not to start treatment (withholding) or treatment once started may be cancelled (withdrawing). Here, the medical care giver is asked to make an “interpretation of life”.