A study from Switzerland that evaluated implementation of a stepped ethical decision-making model on three intensive care units (ICUs) and two geriatric wards found that it worked well, with staff able to find the time and confidence to solve ethical issues themselves. In addition the evaluation showed reduction in moral distress experienced by staff, when they used the model regularly.

The research, published in BMC Medical Ethics, by Barbara Meyer-Zehnder and colleagues from the University of Basel, used qualitative and quantitative methods to discern the factors which facilitate and inhibit implementation of a medical ethics decision making model on hospital wards.

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