This book provides a robust analysis of the history of clinical ethics, the philosophical theories that support its practice, and the practical institutional criteria needed to become a practicing clinical ethicist. Featuring cases and a step-by-step approach, this book combines knowledge points associated with moral philosophy and medicine with general skill objectives for ethics consultants. The book aids in developing analytic moral reasoning skills for clinical ethicists, fostering the comprehensive education and professional development of clinical ethics consultants. In addition, it offers key components of how an ethics consultation curriculum manifest in an educational venue for clinical ethicists are illustrated. Adaptable and relevant for educating multiple disciplines in health care, this resource enables ethicists to understand the philosophical foundations and practical application of clinical ethics.

This book addresses new and evolving thorny issues in clinical ethics consultation. It is a book for our time. The contributors provide essential critical reflection on the standards and methods of training clinical ethics consultants as the field seeks to professionalize. This collection incorporates both North American and European experts, offering different perspectives on issues such as marginalized populations, the opioid epidemic, complex discharge, micro-managing families, and continually challenging issues at the end-of-life, such as determinations of brain death, physician-assisted death, and futility. The authors engage the complexities of choosing for others when making decisions for incapacitated adults and pediatric patients. This volume engages with the growing literature in these debates and offers new perspectives from both academics and practitioners. The readings are of particular interest to bioethicists, clinicians, ethics committees, and students in bioethics and beyond. These new essays advance discussions in the professionalization and certification of ethics consultants and offer crucial insights on new and evolving thorny issues in the practice of clinical ethics consultation.

Definitive and comprehensive guidance for members of healthcare ethics committees confronted with ethically challenging situations.

This handbook provides tools for nurse educators, ethics educators, practicing nurses and allied health professionals for developing confidence and skill in ethical decision making in interdisciplinary settings such as acute and chronic care hospitals and clinics. It is useful for all healthcare personnel who face ethical issues in the course of their work and who work with nurses to resolve these issues. While the content is based on a US context, the concerns of nurses internationally are discussed and emphasized. Nurses working in acute and chronic care settings face many obstacles to providing good care and are often the first line of defense related to patient safety and meeting the needs of patients and their families. Some of the obstacles to optimal patient care are institutional, some sociocultural, and others the result of inadequate communication. Evidence points to the idea that while nurses do have the knowledge and skills to address practice problems of various sorts, they may not be confident in their skills of ethical decision making and advocacy actions. This is a resource to develop moral agency on behalf of individuals and to address broader barriers to good care raised at the local, community, or social levels.

This volume brings together researchers from different European countries and disciplines who are involved in Clinical Ethics Consultation (CEC). The work provides an analysis of the theories and methods underlying CEC as well a discussion of practical issues regarding the implementation and evaluation of CEC. The first section deals with different possible approaches in CEC. The authors explore the question of how we should decide complex cases in clinical ethics, that is, which ethical theory, approach or method is most suitable in order to make an informed ethical decision. It also discusses whether clinical ethicists should be ethicists by education or rather well-trained facilitators with some ethical knowledge. The second chapter of this book focuses on practical aspects of the implementation of CEC structures. The analysis of experienced clinical ethicists refers to macro and micro levels in both developed and transitional countries. Research on the evaluation of CEC is at the centre of the final chapter of this volume. In this context conceptual as well as empirical challenges with respect to a sound approach to judgements about the quality of the work of CECs are described and suggestion for further research in this area are made. In summary this volumes brings together theorists and healthcare practitioners with expertise in CEC. In this respect the volume serves as good example for a multi- and interdisciplinary approach to clinical ethics which combines philosophical reasoning and empirical research.