Clinical Ethics Consultation and Hospital Ethics Committees

Over the past decade, clinical ethics has received growing attention in Germany as in most European countries. In the mid-1990s, most European countries made efforts to establish healthcare ethics committees (HEC) and clinical ethics consultation (CEC) services. The development of clinical ethics discourse and activities in Germany, however, was delayed and, consequently, is still in its natal phase. Until the end of the 1990s, the only institutionalized bodies of ethical reflection were the research ethics committees at university medical centers and at the State Physician Chambers. In March 1997, the Catholic and Protestant hospital association in Germany recommended the implementation of HECs, modeled after the American HECs. Consequently, the establishment of clinical ethics consultation in the form of HECs started in Germany in denominational hospitals, followed by a small but increasing number of community hospitals.

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Bioethics Activities in Rural Hospitals

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics ◽

10.1017/s0963180100902093 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 230-238 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

ANN FREEMAN COOK ◽

HELENA HOAS ◽

KATARINA GUTTMANNOVA

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Ethics Consultation ◽

Quality Standards ◽

Ethics Committees ◽

The United States ◽

Modern Medicine ◽

Self Determination ◽

Healthcare Organizations ◽

Hospital Ethics Committees ◽

Hospital Ethics

Hospital ethics committees have evolved as a response to complicated legal, ethical, and social dilemmas that accompany modern medicine. In the United States, their growth has been augmented by Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards and the Patient Self-Determination Act. There appears to be an implicit presumption that all clinical ethics consultation practices are relatively similar. Finally, there is heightened awareness of the needs for quality standards and assessment of the outcomes of ethics consultations.

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Guest Editorial: Encouraging the Dialogue

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics ◽

10.1017/s0963180109090537 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 333-337 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

GEORGE J. AGICH ◽

STELLA REITER-THEIL

Keyword(s):

Patient Care ◽

Clinical Ethics ◽

Guest Editorial ◽

Ethical Issues ◽

Ethics Consultation ◽

Ethics Committees ◽

Organizational Structures ◽

Healthcare Services ◽

Delivery Of Healthcare ◽

Hospital Ethics

Ethics consultation is the most engaged aspect of clinical ethics, a field focused on ethical issues, questions, and conflicts arising in the course of patient care and delivery of healthcare services. Despite the skepticism of some academic bioethicists and criticism expressed by social commentators, clinical ethics, which began in North America, has expanded to Europe and many other parts of the world with the proliferation of healthcare institution ethics and ethics consultation support services. Along with the development and implementation of ethics policies and guidelines for patient care through work on hospital ethics committees, clinical ethicists are increasingly involved in the ethics of healthcare organizational structures and processes and the day to day provision of ethics consultative services to health professionals, patients, and families.

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Is Consent Necessary for Ethics Consultation?

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics ◽

10.1017/s0963180109090586 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 384-396

Author(s):

STUART G. FINDER

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

Clinical Ethics ◽

Life Support ◽

Ethics Consultation ◽

Ethics Committee ◽

Clinical Ethics Consultation ◽

Life Support System ◽

Reasonable Possibility ◽

Hospital Ethics ◽

Consultative Body

Is consent necessary prior to the initiation of a specific clinical ethics consultation? This is not a question that has received much attention despite the fact that the issue of consent is one of the earliest considerations associated with bioethics. Perhaps this is because of how clinical ethics consultation, as a formidable clinical practice, came into being. Specifically, although the place and time of its conception is not readily identifiable, it is not unreasonable to say it was born on March 31, 1976, when the New Jersey Supreme Court stated, in its Quinlan decision, that consultation would be necessary with “the hospital ‘Ethics Committee’ or like body of the institution in which Karen is then hospitalized. [And i]f that consultative body agrees that there is no reasonable possibility of Karen's ever emerging from her present comatose condition [then her] life-support system may be withdrawn.”

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The Roles of Hospital Ethics Committee and Clinical Ethics Consultation Teams

Korean Journal of Medical Ethics ◽

10.35301/ksme.2017.20.4.353 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 353-358 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dae Seog Heo ◽

김범석 ◽

이진우 ◽

박혜윤 ◽

홍진의

Keyword(s):

Clinical Ethics ◽

Ethics Consultation ◽

Ethics Committee ◽

Clinical Ethics Consultation ◽

Hospital Ethics

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The role of patients in clinical ethics support: a snapshot of practices and attitudes in the United Kingdom

Clinical Ethics ◽

10.1258/ce.2009.009019 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 139-145 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Ainsley J Newson

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Patient Participation ◽

Clinical Ethics ◽

Ethics Consultation ◽

Ethics Committees ◽

Clinical Ethics Consultation ◽

Clinical Ethics Support ◽

Ethics Support ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

The Uk

Clinical ethics committees (CECs) in the United Kingdom (UK) have developed significantly over the past 15 years. The issue of access to and participation in clinical ethics consultation by patients and family members has, however, gone largely unrecognized. There are various dimensions to this kind of contact, including patient notification, consent and participation. This study reports the first specific investigation of patient contact with UK CECs. A questionnaire study was carried out with representatives from UK CECs. Results suggest that patient participation in clinical ethics consultation is low and unlikely to change significantly in the near future. Attitudes towards patients having a role in clinical ethics consultation are mixed, with a variety of reasons put forward both for and against patient participation. These results are discussed in the light of common themes in the literature and the practical and political context of clinical ethics support in the UK.

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Quality Control for Hospitals' Clinical Ethics Services: Proposed Standards

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics ◽

10.1017/s0963180100007933 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 257-268 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Cavin P. Leeman ◽

John C. Fletcher ◽

Edward M. Spencer ◽

Sigrid Fry-Revere

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Quality Control ◽

Patient Care ◽

Clinical Ethics ◽

Health Care Organizations ◽

Ethical Issues ◽

Ethics Committees ◽

Ethics Committee ◽

Hospital Ethics Committees ◽

Hospital Ethics

Hospital ethics committees have become widespread over the last 25 years, stimulated by the Quinlan decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court, the report of a President's Commission, and most recently by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO), which now man dates that each hospital seeking accreditation have a functioning process for the consideration of ethical issues in patient care. Laws and regulations in several states require that hospitals establish ethics committees, and some states stipulate that certain types of cases and disputes be taken to such committees. At least one state grants legal immunity to those who implement recommendations of an ethics committee.

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