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

[Stargazer]

Originally posted by -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!

-jt---showoff.

[mamabear]

An album by the Stormtroopers of Death comes to mind:

"Speak English or Die":chuckle

Not really, of course, but line after line in Italian (or any other non-English language) proves nothing, and might even piss off a few people:nono: :chair: :wink2:

[Gardengal]

Like JT I work ICU and have regularly employed the use of the ethics committe in similar situations. Ethics committee is very helpful when we have family members who disagree in end of life decisions. We also have a few staff nurses involved in the ethics committee in addition to MD with a masters in medical ethics, legal, social service, pastoral care, and a couple of board members, nursing educators and managers. Typically a consult to the ethics committee generates a visit from the physician lead of the committee who offers suggestions. Policy decisions go to the whole committee and patients and families who want more discussion time and support get that from some of the pastoral care, nursing and social service members.

One nice thing about our ethics committee is that it is an avenue we can use when there is a physician who will not speak to the family about end of life decisions and we all believe that the situation is hopeless, or when the family is voicing a wish for withdrawal of treatment when everything looks promising clinically. A consult to ethics when there is disagreement with the MD can be done by anyone and is non-punitive.