Ethical dilemmas in anaesthesiology

Ethical considerations are part of a doctors daily practice. The development of anaesthesiologists as ' perioperative' doctors is increasingly giving anaesthesiologists a treatment function. As the third largest medical specialty, they are also involved in ethical dilemmas. Examples of common themes in the literature include:' informed consent' and professionalism. Nevertheless, good research into ethical dilemmas in the field of anaesthesiology is lacking. The aim of this research is to gain insight into current ethical dilemmas that anaesthesiologists experience daily in the Netherlands and how they deal with them. We hope that knowledge on this subject will ultimately lead to a more efficient approach to dilemmas and better quality of care for our patients.This study will describe which ethical dilemmas are experienced by anesthesiologist in the Dutch healthcare and what the current solving strategies are for these issues. Semi- structured interviews will be conducted with anaesthesiologists employed in different hospitals in the Netherlands.

1) Ethical dilemmas are present in anaesthesiology.

2) Ethical dilemmas are usually not perceived or approached as such by anaesthetists.

3) There is a difference in type and occurrence of ethical dilemmas between academic and non-academic hospitals.

4)There is a difference in type and occurrence of ethical dilemmas between anaesthesiology subspecialties

5) In anaesthesiology there is not a unified approach to solve ethical dilemmas.

1 interview

Interviews