Survey: Have you ever consulted with your facility's ethics committee about a patient

[Brian]

Here are the results of last months survey question

Have you ever consulted with your facility's ethics committee about a patient? :

Please feel free to read and post any comments that you have right here in this discussion thread by clicking the "Post Reply" button.

Thanks

[mamabear]

Message to gojack:

I live and work in Northwest Indiana. We had 3 of the "if you don't get help from -------, please get help ..." hospitals. All 3 have gone belly-up:eek: and one of them is involved in some heavy-duty litigation re: money owed former employees:( I never worked at -------, but several co-workers at my current place of employment did, and they can't say enough bad things about the place. Kudos to you for having the spine and integrity to speak up:kiss

Nursing needs more people like you!

[baseline]

Not as an individual, but it has arisen many times during case management meetings, and the individual case manger and or social worker involved will go to the ethics committee.

[paola go!]

In Italia i Comitati Etici funzionano solo per dare pareri sulle sperimentazioni di farmaci. Non si discute mai dei pazienti e dei problemi etici correlati all'assistenza; tantomeno c'è una riflessiona da parte degl iinfermieri su questi temi. C'è ancora molto da fare in materia di bioetica. Ciao a tutti

[mattsmom81]

I have referred ethical dilemnas to my manager who has taken it to the ethics committee...this is how it has been done in the past (chain of command).

Such things as families wishing to discontinue life support under unusual circumstances, or where docs do not take patient's or family's wishes into consideration re life support, and docs who have admitted family members to our ICU and go to ridiculous lengths to 'play God' and prolong their loved one's existence.

[Stargazer]

Originally posted by paola go!

In Italia i Comitati Etici funzionano solo per dare pareri sulle sperimentazioni di farmaci. Non si discute mai dei pazienti e dei problemi etici correlati all'assistenza; tantomeno c'è una riflessiona da parte degl iinfermieri su questi temi. C'è ancora molto da fare in materia di bioetica. Ciao a tutti

Running this through Alta Vista's translator, I get:

In Italy the Ethical Committees only work for giving opinions on the drug experimentations. It is not never discussed about the patients and of the ethical problems it correlates you to the attendance; tantomeno one riflessiona from part is degl iinfermieri on these topics. There is still much to make in bioethics matter. Hello to all.

Welcome, Paola. I don't think we have any other Italian nurses posting regularly here, and we love diversity on this board and are glad for a different perspective. Unfortunately, although Italian is a beautiful language, many or most of the people here will not be able to read or respond to your posts unless they're in English. (It's okay if it's not "perfect" English!) Welcome to the board!

[nursegoodguy]

What ethics committee?

[-jt]

I work in ICU yes we've consulted the ethics committee many times. Situations like terminal weaning, Jehovahs Witness parents refusing life-saving blood transfusions for their incapacitated adult child based on their own religious beliefs - not his, DNI for viable unconscious pt who had no advance directives but whose family did not want him intubated, etc. Our ethics committee consists of hospital board members, MDs, VP of Nursing, staff RNs, clergy, pt rep, and legal expert .

[-jt]

Ciao, Paola.

I comitati di etica qui contribuiscono a decidere le situazioni

difficili come rimozione del supporto di vita in pazienti che non sono morte. Molto implicato.

Non c'è molti che parlino Italiano qui - ma c'è alcuni Italiano-Americani. Io sono un'Italiana-Americana da New York - anche un'infermiera. Tu parli inglese? No?

Va bene..... utilizziamo il traduttore!

Benvenuto e avanti!

[charissa]

yes i had a ptwho had a DNR-CC, that had been made out with his wife before she died suddenly, but the kids were fighting because some couldn't let go and the Dr wouldn't let us follow his wishes because of it. We called the com. it was Sund night, and the poor fellow got his wishes as he should have

[psychonurse]

I would have liked to have went to the Ethics Committee when I was traveling and I went to Arizona. We had patients on vents for months at a time and even some of the were on dialysis. All it was doing was taking all the money from this poor older man that wouldn't have anything to live on when his wife was gone. I should have went after them then but I didn't have the balls that I now have after 13 years of correctional nursing. :chuckle

[MissdonditaBsn]

I have used the ethics committee in my hospital at least a couple of times. The first time was when a patient's family and her physician decided to make the patient a DNR and essentially a hospice patient and didn't want us to tell her. Nobody told the patient she was dying. She was a very ill but alert 55 yo woman. The second time was when a physician decided that he wasn't ready to give up on his patient and took the patient out of hospice care despite the families wishes. It was a battle of the will between the internist and the cardiologist who had personality conflicts of their own. The internist doesn't believe in hospice and was outraged when the cardiologist had suggested it to the family. The internist was yelling at the daughters and had everybody in an uproar. He wouldn't even talk to the family when it was all said at done. A very sad case indeed.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

Yes we (as a group) did for a migrant worker with a broken femur. She spoke no English (nurses provided excellent translation), had no insurance, and had a doctor who refused to do more than place her in a cast and discharge her. I left before it was resolved, but it was a terrible situation all around.