VA Health Care Ethics Podcasts

Why it's a good idea to fill out an advance directive, and what you might want to think about before you do.

Dr. Melissa Bottrell interviews Jeffrey Gering during an IntegratedEthics Improvement Forum national call. The topic was “Ethical Leadership and Culture.”

Dr. Mary Gentile of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business spoke on an IE Improvement Forum call on the topic of "Giving Voice to Values."

We explain which patients are considered high risk, why it is important to initiate a goals of care conversation with those patients, and how the conversation is documented.

This podcast discusses the informed consent requirements for urine drug testing (UDT) in the context of long-term opioid therapy for pain.

In this podcast, VA experts and clinicians discuss ethical and practical aspects of obtaining the patient's oral informed consent for HIV testing.

We examine the personal and public health risks associated with long-term opioid therapy and discuss VHA policy on patient education and consent for long-term opioid therapy.

We review the hierarchy of surrogates in VA, discuss the documentation requirements in order to establish a close friend as the surrogate, and examine the implications for same-sex married and unmarried couples.

We discuss common concerns among clinicians who care for these patients, and ways to address those concerns.