Atrium Health provides medical ethics services to providers and patients to help with the resolution of ethical dilemmas and questions. Additionally, the team helps:
Patients and providers often face questions that involve some value judgments in medical situations. What is important, and what is the wrong or the right thing to do? For example, if the patient is unable to make decisions, who should be making decisions for the patient? What if the patient is unconscious but his or her wishes are unclear?
Ethics services can help with finding answers in these tough situations. We can help clarify values and assist in conflicts or uncertainties about these values.
The Carolinas Medical Center Ethics Committee is made up of multidisciplinary staff members, including physicians, nurses, social workers, respiratory therapists, chaplains, ethicists and community representatives. The group meets monthly. Meetings focus on quality assessment of individual consultations, hospital policies, and general oversight of ethics issues in the hospital setting. There are also subcommittees that focus on key areas:
Ethics Consultation
Policy
Education
What happens when I call for a consultation?
The chaplain on call will gather preliminary information and will refer the call to an ethics consultant. The consultant will gather any additional information, analyze the situation and discuss the consultation with relevant participants. All consultations are confidential, just like other medical services.
Why should I get a consultation?
Sometimes healthcare decisions are ethically problematic. A consultation can give you an outsider’s perspective, help ensure respect for patient rights, and support and enhance the moral compass of providers and patients.
What are the typical types of questions asked?