Healthcare Professionals Attend Conference on "How to Make Ethical Decisions at the Bedside”

On January 12th and 13th, 2012, OOIE hosted two conferences entitled “How to Make Ethical Decisions at the Bedside” at the Evergreens in Moorestown and Fellowship Village in Basking Ridge.  These trainings, presented by Bioethicist Helen Blank, PhD, gave participants a framework for confronting complex end-of-life ethics issues in long-term care facilities. It  included segments on current ethical theory, the state of the law, advance care planning, interactions with family members and surrogates, POLST/DNR/OOHDNR/DNI forms and their appropriate use, palliative care, and medical futility.

One of the central messages of the training was the importance of having advance care planning discussions with long-term care residents before these residents lack capacity and a crisis point is reached. Dr. Blank trained approximately 150 health care professionals, including a large number of social workers, nurses, and long-term care administrators. The feedback received has been exceedingly positive, with many participants describing it as “inspirational.”

OOIE plans to hold another round of these trainings in March/April 2012. Stay tuned to our Facebook page and OOIE's website for future updates and registration materials.