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Ethics consultants and ethics committees
1Section of Clinical Ethics, Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, IL 60068.
Archives of Internal Medicine
|May 1, 1989
Summary
Hospital ethics services improve patient care by combining physician and non-physician expertise. Effective ethics consultation requires clinicians to understand patient situations for better case management and policy development.
Area of Science:
- Medical Ethics
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Hospitals use ethicists, committees, and consultation services for patient care dilemmas.
- Physicians lack clinical ethics training, and ethicists lack clinical medicine training, hindering problem resolution.
- Ethics committees face challenges in clinical consultations due to liability and membership standards.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of ethics consultation services in addressing moral questions in patient care.
- To highlight the complementary roles of physician-ethicists and non-physician-ethicists in clinical ethics.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the structure and function of hospital ethics services.
- Examination of the qualifications and roles of ethics consultants and committees.
- Discussion of the need for "clinician" status for non-physician ethicists.
Main Results:
- Ethics consultation services with both physician and non-physician ethicists offer diverse perspectives.
- Non-physician ethicists must possess "clinician" skills to effectively manage patient cases.
- Ethics consultants focus on patient care, while ethics committees focus on institutional policy.
Conclusions:
- Integrated ethics consultation services enhance the management of clinical ethical problems.
- Clear distinction between the patient care responsibilities of consultants and the policy advisory role of committees is crucial.
- Professional development in clinical ethics for healthcare providers and clinical training for ethicists are essential.