Rehabilitation Team Disagreement: Guidelines for Resolution
Received 19 December 2008; accepted 25 September 2009.
Rehabilitation care is provided by interdisciplinary teams including physicians, nurses, therapists, social workers, psychologists, and others. When there is disagreement or miscommunication among team members, progress toward patient goals can be thwarted. This paper will discuss differing models by which teams function, and what happens when a nonphysician member of the team disagrees with the plan of care. An analysis of the ethical issues embedded in two cases will be presented, and suggestions for resolution of team disagreement will be recommended.
aRehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Donnelley Family Disability Ethics Program, 345 E Superior St, Mezzanine South, Chicago, IL 60611†
bRehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL‡
cRehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL§
dRehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL¶
Address correspondence to: T.A.S.
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ABSTRACT