Supporting cancer care clinicians to 'hold' their patients during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic: a role for reflective ethics discussions.
COVID-19
cancer care clinicians
clinical ethics
holding patients
moral distress
Journal
Internal medicine journal
ISSN: 1445-5994
Titre abrégé: Intern Med J
Pays: Australia
ID NLM: 101092952
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Jul 2021
Jul 2021
Historique:
revised:
14
04
2021
received:
11
10
2020
accepted:
12
05
2021
entrez:
19
7
2021
pubmed:
20
7
2021
medline:
22
7
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an overwhelming burden on healthcare delivery globally. This paper examines how COVID-19 has affected cancer care clinicians' capacity to deliver cancer care in the Australian context. We use the lens of 'holding patients' (drawing from attachment theory, psychology and from Australian Indigenous knowledge) to conceptualise cancer clinicians' processes of care and therapeutic relationships with patients. These notions of 'holding' resonate with the deep responsibility cancer care clinicians feel towards their patients. They enrich ethical language beyond duties to benefit, avoid harm, respect patients' autonomy and provide just treatment. We consider the disruptive effects of COVID-19 on care delivery and on clinicians themselves. We then show how models of clinical ethics and other similar reflective discussion approaches are a relevant support mechanism to assist clinicians to process and make sense of COVID-19's disruptions to their professional ethical role of holding patients during and beyond the pandemic.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34278682
doi: 10.1111/imj.15375
pmc: PMC8447295
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
1143-1145Informations de copyright
© 2021 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
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