Which statement about an institutional ethics committee is correct?
A. The ethics committee is an additional resource for clients and healthcare professionals.
B. The ethics committee relieves health care professionals from dealing with ethical issues.
C. The ethics committee would be the first option in addressing an ethical dilemma.
D. The ethics committee replaces decision-making by the client and health care providers.
Correct Answer: A. The ethics committee is an additional resource for clients and healthcare professionals.
In hospitals throughout the United States, institutional ethics committees (IECs) have become a standard vehicle for the education of health professionals about biomedical ethics, for the drafting and review of hospital policy, and for clinical ethics case consultation.
Option B: Institutional ethics committees (IECs) initially was proposed to review decisions to limit or withdraw life-sustaining treatment for neurologically devastated or dying adult patients and were viewed as a reasonable approach to the complex issues raised by decisions not to treat seriously ill or disabled newborns.
Option C: An IEC that is engaged in providing ethics consultations should have a policy and procedure statement that includes the following: who can request a consultation, how the IEC is contacted, who responds to the request, how the consultation is conducted, who is to be included in the consultation, proper notification of affected persons, protection of patient confidentiality, how the consultation is documented, whether in some circumstances an ethics consultation is required, and the advisory nature of the consultant’s recommendations.
Option D: IECs help resolve conflicts about treatment decisions through case consultation, provide a forum for discussion of policies relating to institutional ethics, and educate their health care communities about ethical concepts.