McGovern Center postdoctoral fellow, Margarita Ortiz, JD, MA, published a case analysis with Chinyere O’Connor, MD, FAAP (Department of Pediatrics, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston), Elizabeth G. Epstein, PhD, RN, HEC-C, FAAN (University of Virginia School of Nursing), and Mary Faith Marshall, HEC-C, PhD, FCCM (Center for Health Humanities and Ethics, School of Medicine, University of Virginia).
The piece is entitled “Moral Community and Teamwork in the ICU,” and appears in the Spring 2023 issue of Critical Connections, presenting a critical care ethics case of an ICU patient who had a hemorrhagic stroke. Ethical issues arise, and a consultation is requested. Ortiz and company carefully analyze the dilemma at hand, imparting that collaboration and teamwork are necessary to ensure support of decision-making and establishing goals of care. The authors close with a statement about the need to recognize, maintain, and improve teamwork for patients’ benefit, noting this as a professional, ethical, and legal obligation.