Research on the Ethical Dilemmas of Medical Social Workers Involved in the Service Emergency Stranded Patients / 中国医学伦理学

ABSTRACT

The retention of emergency patients is a common problem faced by hospitals worldwide. In addition to medical problems, social, family, economic and other problems will also cause patients to stay in the emergency department. It not only brings challenges to patients’ own disease treatment and hospital operation and management, but also brings ethical dilemmas. Taking the service cases of medical social workers who involved in stranded patients in Shanghai E Hospital as an example, this paper analyzed 20 service records and interviews with social workers receiving cases, and combed the ethical dilemmas faced by medical social workers in the process of involving in emergency stranded patients. It was found that medical social workers faced many ethical dilemmas in the process of involving in emergency stranded patients, such as interpersonal relations and relevant legal regulations, the right to life and health and the right to informed consent, the self-determination of case owners and the allocation of medical resources. In this regard, it is suggested to solve the problem of patient retention by advocating the improvement of relevant systems and policies, building cooperative teams to smooth referral channels, strengthening education, and promoting family shared decision-making.