Clinical ethics and systems thinking

Development of clinical ethics services in the UK: a national survey

“…The described activities of CESs include individual case consultation where current or retrospective cases are considered and recommendations are provided to relevant individuals, contributing as a member of the multidisciplinary team, providing input into organisational policies, promoting ethics leadership in the institution and facilitating moral reflection and deliberation among health professionals 4 9 10. The models of CES provision and the institutional and political contexts in which they operate are also diverse 11.…”

A Concept Analysis of Systems Thinking

“…More teamwork occurs when healthcare providers seek input from other stake holders, including the interprofessional team and patients (Bleich, ). The use of systems thinking may aid in the reduction of “moral distress and disempowerment among healthcare providers, as well as promote a collaborative approach within the organization or among systems” (MacRae et al., , p. 314).…”

Institutional Challenges for Clinical Ethics Committees

“…This approach emphasizes the plurality of actors interacting in health care and the collaborative nature of this practice as a fundamental string for health care quality (MacRae et al 2008). It seems necessary to conceive of the ethical approach as a learning process in solving the problems stemming from the diversity of the normative expectations of the actors involved in hospital practice: patients, professionals, managers (Cobbaut 2009).…”

“…CECs have tended to decry this description of their role and defend their independence as supporters of the individuals at the coal face of clinical practice; patients, families and clinicians. However, CECs have always had to work within an institutional framework and with the increasing focus on their potential role in organizational ethics (MacRae et al 2008;Opel et al 2009). There is a need to consider the challenges they face in balancing their multiple duties.…”