This dimension of care requires the necessary competence to provide the actual care in a professional way. By sorting patients competently, triage functions as a necessary part of good-quality emergency care. From a care ethics perspective, competent triage not only comprises the medical competence of sorting patients according to criteria of clinical urgency, but also includes attention to proper communication and respect for Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the patient’s privacy, thus avoiding psychological harm. Good care requires feedback and verification that the patient’s needs are actually being met. This brings us to the final dimension of care, namely that of ‘care receiving’ and the corresponding attitude of responsiveness, which refers

to the response of the patient to the given care. The dimension of care receiving is mostly lacking in the practice of triage and at times leads to conflict. Nevertheless,

checking to see how the given care is being received is very important since the decisions made by the triage officer can have potential negative impact on patient’s condition (e.g. patient’s safety may Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical be endangered or their condition may deteriorate) and on their experiences (distress, fear, anger). The result is not merely inconvenience but rather a degradation of the entire care process. As such, and in combination with the attitude of attentiveness, the triage officer needs to Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical seek the responsiveness of the patient, which helps to address ethically JNK IN8 relevant issues like respect for autonomy and the issue of informed consent, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical lack of communication, lack of privacy and psychological harm. Framework of Interpersonal Relationships Care practices always take place within a framework of interpersonal relationships, where the caregiver(s) and the care receiver are reciprocally involved in a dynamic interaction of giving and receiving care [41]. Reciprocity consists of verifying Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical that the given care meets the patient’s needs, thus avoiding the risk of paternalistic or inadequate care. In his theoretical study, Gastmans points at the fact that the characteristics of relatedness

and reciprocity should also be understood against the background of a very particular social context [41,77]. Applied to ED triage, we can point at the way in which the reception of people is being organized and at the way in which people in need are being approached in their first contact with the ED staff. The way in which people are being received STK38 and taken care of when entering the ED, their contact with the triage officer, are important parts of the particular care process, because they are the first encounters between patients, their relatives, caregivers and the hospital, and often the starting point of an overall care process. Institutional Framework In general, care ethics is mainly considered as an ethics of individual relationships [39]. However, care practices should always be considered against a broader horizon of social practices as a whole.