Ethics Committee

A patient has suffered a stroke. She is being kept alive by "artificial means," by a respirator. But, her doctors say she has no real chance of coming of out of her coma. Unfortunately, she has no advance directive. And to make matters worse, her son and daughter can't agree on what to do.

With their consent, the social worker asks the Ethics Committee to have one of its members meet with the family. The meeting, or "consultation," takes place in a personal, private way. The goal is to help the family understand the situation better so they can make an informed and wise decision based on such fastors as: the patient's medical outlook; how other families have dealt with the same issue; and what the patient would want if he or see could say.

The mission of the Ethics Committee has three main parts:

Education	Help for Decision Makers	Support for Care Providers
Ethics education starts with the Committee. They follow: advances in medical technology; developments in medical ethics, and changes in law. The committee helps us understand the basics of health care decision making.	"Hard choices" can and do come up. The situation may vary. The question might be: what type of treatment to accept or refuse. The ability of the patient to decide for himself or herself may be unclear. Family members may disagree about what to do. Members of the health care team can offer various options. The final decision rests with the patient or patient's identified representative. The Ethics Committee is available to help, whatever the situation.	The Ethic Committee helps in other ways. Health care providers depend on policies and procedures to protect the patient's right to decide. The Ethics Committee plays a key role by reviewing and commenting on proposed new guidelines, helping to keep existing policies current and identifying issues or situations that may need to be addressed in the future. The Ethics Committe and its representatives will always respect the patient's and family's privacy.

 

Health care decisions are very complex today. Advances in medical technology have given us so many choices. Sometimes the decisions we face are difficult to make and people involved in our care may also disagree over what steps to take.

That's when the Ethics Committee can help. Medical ethics is the process of applying legal and ethical principles to concrete, real-world situations. It is a way of looking at "hard choices" that take into account what the law says; what our values are; and how similar issues have been resolved in the past.

Every person has the right to control the health care he or she receives. You exercise this right by making your own decisions. If you aren't able to act for yourself, you can still be in charge through your advance directives, or through another person you trust acting on your behalf.

If your wishes are not clearly understood, or if those involved in your care disagree over what should be done, you or your family may need help. That is where the Ethics Committee comes in. It offers special expertise and experience in medical ethics. Whenever it gets involved, it does so with respect to patients' rights, family privacy and the personal nature of health care decisions.

Ethics Committee members may include physicians, administrators, ethicists, chaplains, nurses and community representatives.

Your Responsibility

It's good to know the Ethics Committe is available to help if you or your family need it. It has an important role to play. You can replace confusion with direction if you:

1. Remain in charge of your health care. Make sure you understand your options. Then be clear in telling your doctor your options.
2. Learn how to use your Advance Directives. Advance Directives let you say ahead of time what kind of care you do or do not want. Advance Directives let you appoint someone else to act for you, in case you lose the ability to act for yourself.
3. Be willing to talk candidly about what you want. Let your health care representative--that's the person you appoint in your Advance Directive, know your views and how you would like decisions made. If you have not appointed anyone, have this discussion with your physician, family member or friend.

    

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   For more information:

   Call: 810-982-8809
   or
   1-800-959-4131