Austin Wendy
Professor emeritus at the Faculty of Nursing and the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.
AMA J Ethics. 2017 Jun 1;19(6):595-600. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.6.pfor1-1706.
Ethics consultation has traditionally focused on the provision of expert guidance to health care professionals when challenging quandaries arise in clinical cases. Its role, however, is expanding as demands on health care organizations are negatively impacting their moral habitability. A sign of this impact can be seen in the moral distress experienced by staff and administrators, such that some leave their positions and their organizations. Ethics consultation, more broadly conceived, can be a major asset in ensuring that ethical practice is meaningfully supported, that moral distress is mitigated, and that the organizational environment is morally habitable.
传统上，伦理咨询主要关注在临床病例中出现具有挑战性的困境时，为医疗保健专业人员提供专家指导。然而，随着对医疗保健机构的要求对其道德适宜性产生负面影响，伦理咨询的作用正在扩大。这种影响的一个迹象可以从工作人员和管理人员所经历的道德困扰中看出，以至于一些人离开了他们的岗位和所在机构。从更广泛的角度来看，伦理咨询可以成为确保道德实践得到切实支持、减轻道德困扰以及使组织环境具有道德适宜性的一项重要资产。
