Establishing a Nursing Bioethics Committee

Nursing must keep pace with the technological revolution and radical new treatment modalities of patient care, many of which cause ethical dilemmas. To address the unique ethical concerns of staff nurses and managers, the authors discuss the development, implementation, and evaluation of a Nursing Bioethics Committee. The findings of a questionnaire measuring staff nurses' perceptions of the degree of difficulty and frequency of ethical problems in clinical practice are described. The benefits of the committee are presented from the perspective of staff nurses and nurse executives.