Does our ethics committee need to be accredited? Should our ethics consultant be certified? Is there a national standard for competence to conduct ethics consultation?
These questions invariably arise whenever and wherever ethics committees or consultation services are established—most often in hospitals and medical centers. A new report addresses these questions and recommends the same answer to all three: "No."
CONSENSUS OF SCHOLARS
The advice offered in Core Competencies for Health Care Ethics Consultation, a report prepared by the Society for Health and Human Values–Society for Bioethics Consultation (SHHV-SBC) Task Force on Standards for Bioethics Consultation, reflects the consensus of 21 scholars representing a host of professional fields and health care organizations.
The report defines the nature and goals of ethics consultation, identifies core competencies, explores the similarities and differences between clinical and organizational ethics consultation, discusses the issue of evaluating ethics consultations, and underscores some of . . . [Full Text of this Article]
