Clinical ethics committees: organizational support for ethical practice

The tripartite functions of an ethics committee are case consultation, institutional policy review and development, and ethics education. Preparation before calling an ethics consultation is critical. In addition, serving on an ethics committee provides a personally and professionally rewarding experience because of the service performed for staff, patients, and families. This author encourages nurses to volunteer for this experience, as there is no better way to understand the perplexing ethical problems in health care today. As nurses become more active on ethics committees, health care will transition from the traditional demand-initiated consult to a process that will emphasize the prevention of ethical conflicts by fostering the development of ethical practice protocols or guidelines (Nelson et al., 2008).