Ethical Considerations Flashcards
7 cards from real NRP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Ethical Considerations flashcards as text
A birth team learns mid-resuscitation that a 23-week neonate has bilateral absent cortex on point-of-care imaging. What is the most appropriate action?
Answer: Pause to communicate with the family and reassess the goals of care
New prognostic information should prompt a reassessment of goals of care in collaboration with the family rather than unilateral action.
How does the principle of 'justice' apply to resource allocation during neonatal resuscitation in a mass casualty or resource-limited setting?
Answer: Resources should be allocated to maximize overall benefit and fairness
Justice in resource-limited settings requires allocation strategies that maximize overall benefit and treat patients fairly based on need and likely outcome.
Parents request that resuscitation be stopped after 15 minutes with no response in a 26-week neonate. The team believes the infant may still recover. What is the most appropriate response?
Answer: Discuss the clinical situation transparently and seek shared decision-making
Transparent communication and shared decision-making allow the team and family to reach a collaborative decision based on all available information.
Which of the following is an example of 'substituted judgment' in neonatal ethics?
Answer: Parents decide what the infant would want if capable of expressing a preference
Substituted judgment occurs when surrogates (typically parents) make decisions based on what the patient would want, applied in neonatology to represent the infant's best interests.
A hospital policy mandates resuscitation of all neonates born at or after 23 weeks. A family at 23 weeks requests comfort care due to severe congenital anomalies. What is the most appropriate next step?
Answer: Engage the ethics committee to reconcile the policy with the family's individualized circumstances
Ethics committee involvement helps reconcile institutional policies with the need for individualized, family-centered care in exceptional circumstances.
Which ethical concept is described when a care team provides aggressive resuscitation to a clearly non-viable neonate primarily to avoid legal liability?
Answer: Defensive medicine conflicting with non-maleficence
Providing aggressive resuscitation for legal protection rather than patient benefit is defensive medicine that conflicts with non-maleficence by potentially causing harm without benefit.
In neonatal resuscitation ethics, what does 'best interest standard' mean?
Answer: Decision-making guided by what would most benefit the neonate's overall well-being
The best interest standard guides surrogate decisions by asking what course of action would most benefit the neonate's overall well-being, including quality of life.