Annette Robertsen

Associate Professor - Centre for Medical Ethics

Norwegian version of this page

Email annette.robertsen@medisin.uio.no

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Visiting address Gaustadalléen 21 Forskningsparken Hus C Plan 1 0349 Oslo

Postal address Postboks 1130 Blindern 0318 Oslo

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Academic interests

Clinical ethics. Choosing wisely. Decisionmaking processes regarding withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment. Potentially inappropriate treatment. Strategies for dealing with uncertainty and doubt related to ethical dilemma. Interprofessional collaboration. Autonomy. Vulnerability. Family-centered care. End-of-life care in the intensive care unit. A good death. Organdonation. Medical errors. Moral distress. Moral resilience. Peer support.

Teaching

Lectures on medical ethics topics for medical students at the University of Oslo, lectures on medical ethics topics for physicians and nurses as part of my clinical work, teaching physicians in specialist training for the Norwegian medical association, some teaching for the ethic section in the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine

Background

I studied medicine at the University of Oslo (1986-92) and I have since then worked as a physicians (1992 - now). I worked for 3 years with internal medicine (1995-1998), but changed to anesthesiology (1998 - now). I am a specialist in anesthesiology and in intensive care medicine with a European diploma of intensive care (EDIC from 2006), my clinical work is full time in the intensive care unit. I have my PhD from the University of Oslo, with the project treatment-limiting decisions in patients with traumatic brain injury, supervisions professor Reidun Førde, Center of Medical Ethics University of Oslo and Eiric Helseth, professor of neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital.

Positions held

Senior consultant in the intensive care unit Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway and associate professor (part time) at the Center for medical ethics, University of Oslo, Norway

Collaboration

I am a member of the ethics section of the European Society of intensive care medicine (ESICM), contributed to ESICM e modules in medical ethics and a book chapter written in collaboration with collegues from the ethics section og ESICM

I was the Norwegian national coordinator for the ETHICUS II study on end-of-life care in the intensive care unit, an international multi-center study lead by Charles Sprung Israel, 11 Norwegian sites participated

I am part of the clinical ethics group in Center of medical ethics, University of Oslo

I am part of the intensive care reasearch group at Oslo University Hospital

I collaborate with researchers at St Olav, Trondheim, Norway on a project on dying in hospital - experiences and processes, the IHOD project, ongoing, in planning phase

Benbenishty, Julie; Ganz, Freda DeKeyser; Lautrette, Alexandre; Jaschinski, Ulrich; Aggarwal, Avneep & Søreide, Eldar [Show all 15 contributors for this article] (2024). Variations in reporting of nurse involvement in end-of-life practices in intensive care units worldwide (ETHICUS-2): A prospective observational study. International Journal of Nursing Studies. ISSN 0020-7489. 155. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2024.104764.
Feldman, Charles; Sprung, Charles L.; Mentzelopoulos, Spyros D.; Pohrt, Anne; Hartog, Christiane S. & Danbury, Christopher [Show all 26 contributors for this article] (2022). Global comparison of communication of end-of-life decisions in the ICU. Chest. ISSN 0012-3692. 162(5), p. 1074–1085. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2022.05.007.
Avidan, Alexander; Sprung, Charles L.; Schefold, Joerg C; Ricou, Bara; Hartog, Christiane & Nates, Joseph L [Show all 47 contributors for this article] (2021). Variations in end-of-life practices in intensive care units worldwide (Ethicus-2): a prospective observational study. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. ISSN 2213-2600. 9(10), p. 1101–1110. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(21)00261-7.
Benbenishty, Julie; Ganz, Freda DeKeyser; Anstey, Matthew H.; Barbosa-Camacho, Francisco Jose; Bocci, Maria Grazia & Çizmeci, Elif Ayşe [Show all 15 contributors for this article] (2021). Changes in intensive care unit nurse involvement in end of life decision making between 1999 and 2016: Descriptive comparative study. Intensive & Critical Care Nursing. ISSN 0964-3397. 68. doi: 10.1016/j.iccn.2021.103138.
Robertsen, Annette; Helseth, Eirik & Førde, Reidun (2021). Inter-physician variability in strategies linked to treatment limitations after severe traumatic brain injury; proactivity or wait-and-see. BMC Medical Ethics. ISSN 1472-6939. 22(1). doi: 10.1186/s12910-021-00612-8. Full text in Research Archive
Robertsen, Annette (2020). Consent, Advance Directives, and Decision by Proxies. In Michalsen, Andrej (Eds.), Compelling Ethical Challenges in Critical Care and Emergency Medicine. Springer. ISSN 0000000000.
Kerckhoffs, Monika C.; Senekal, Jannien; Van Dijk, Diederik; Artigas, Antonio; Butler, Jenie & Michalsen, Andrej [Show all 13 contributors for this article] (2020). Framework to Support the Process of Decision-Making on Life-Sustaining Treatments in the ICU: Results of a Delphi Study. Critical Care Medicine. ISSN 0090-3493. p. 645–653. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000004221.
Solbakk, Jan Helge; Bentzen, Heidi Beate; Holm, Søren; Heggestad, Anne Kari Tolo; Hofmann, Bjørn Morten & Robertsen, Annette [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2020). Back to WHAT? The role of research ethics in pandemic times. Medicine, Health care and Philosophy. ISSN 1386-7423. p. 1–16. doi: 10.1007/s11019-020-09984-x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The Covid-19 pandemic creates an unprecedented threatening situation worldwide with an urgent need for critical reflection and new knowledge production, but also a need for imminent action despite prevailing knowledge gaps and multilevel uncertainty. With regard to the role of research ethics in these pandemic times some argue in favor of exceptionalism, others, including the authors of this paper, emphasize the urgent need to remain committed to core ethical principles and fundamental human rights obligations all reflected in research regulations and guidelines carefully crafted over time. In this paper we disentangle some of the arguments put forward in the ongoing debate about Covid-19 human challenge studies (CHIs) and the concomitant role of health-related research ethics in pandemic times. We suggest it might be helpful to think through a lens differentiating between risk, strict uncertainty and ignorance. We provide some examples of lessons learned by harm done in the name of research in the past and discuss the relevance of this legacy in the current situation.
Dahlberg, Jørgen; Eriksen, Camilla; Robertsen, Annette & Beitland, Sigrid (2020). Barriers and challenges in the process of including critically ill patients in clinical studies. Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine. ISSN 1757-7241. 28(1). doi: 10.1186/s13049-020-00732-x. Full text in Research Archive
Robertsen, Annette; Helseth, Eirik; Laake, Jon Henrik & Førde, Reidun (2019). Neurocritical care physicians' doubt about whether to withdraw life-sustaining treatment the first days after devastating brain injury: An interview study. Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine. ISSN 1757-7241. 27:81, p. 1–8. doi: 10.1186/s13049-019-0648-9. Full text in Research Archive
Robertsen, Annette; Førde, Reidun; Skaga, Nils Oddvar & Helseth, Eirik (2017). Treatment-limiting decisions in patients with severe traumatic brain injury in a Norwegian regional trauma center. Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine. ISSN 1757-7241. 25(44), p. 1–9. doi: 10.1186/s13049-017-0385-x.

View all works in Cristin

Benbenishty, Julie; Ganz, Freda DeKeyser; Anstey, Matthew H.; Barbosa-Camacho, Francisco Jose; Bocci, Maria Grazia & Çizmeci, Elif Ayşe [Show all 15 contributors for this article] (2022). We need to better recognise and value the contribution of nurses to end-of-life care (Bloomer, ICCN 2022). Intensive & Critical Care Nursing. ISSN 0964-3397. 70. doi: 10.1016/j.iccn.2022.103225.
Solbakk, Jan Helge; Bentzen, Heidi Beate; Holm, Søren; Heggestad, Anne Kari Tolo; Hofmann, Bjørn Morten & Robertsen, Annette [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2020). Høyrisikostudier på alle mennesker i Covid-19-sammenheng er etisk uforsvarlig. Uniforum. ISSN 1891-5825.
Robertsen, Annette; Sørensen, Dag Wendelbo & Hanoa, R. (2013). Organdonasjon. In Hanoa, R. (Eds.), Nevrotraumatologi. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245010084.
Robertsen, Annette; Reinlie, Sissel; Hanoa, R. & Nordby, Hans-Kristian (2013). Kritiske beslutninger om behandlingsnivå ved alvorlig traumatisk hjerneskade. In Hanoa, R. (Eds.), Nevrotraumatologi. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245010084.