Psychiatrists and the General Hospital Ethics Committee.

General Hospital Ethics Committees (GHECs) have emerged as institutional forums for addressing bioethical dilemmas. Hospital psychiatrists have important roles to play on these committees. Their skills in group process assessment, mental status examination, and character assessment have diverse applications. Psychiatrists can facilitate communication, both on the committee and as GHEC-based clinical ethics consultants. Ethics committees must be concerned with how they arrive at ethical decisions, guarding against political influence or individual monopolization. Psychiatrists can assist these efforts as organizational consultants to GHECs. The perception of psychiatrists as reflective, tolerant of ambiguity, humanizing, and approachable about moral aspects of health care suggests they would make excellent committee leaders. Hospital psychiatrists also have important committee roles to play as ethics educators and policy-makers. More demographic research is needed to investigate psychiatrists' participation on GHECs. Studies of how they are perceived by their ethics committee colleagues may reveal new roles and potential pitfalls for GHEC psychiatrists.