Ethics in the interface between multidisciplinary teams: a narrative in stages for inter-professional education

Abstract

An ethically problematic clinical case is used to illustrate the potential importance of understanding clinical ethics in an interdisciplinary context. Whilst much has been written on ethics education for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teams, we argue that it is important that both healthcare professions and healthcare teams are able to look outside their own disciplinary ethos and sometimes outside their formal teams when considering the ramifications of an ethical issue. A complex (fictional but based on the authors’ pooled experiences) case involving the delivery of a new-born from a mother with HIV is used to illustrate this, because multiple clinical teams will be involved at different times and in parallel with one another.

Books:Parfit: a Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality

“…This ethical heterodoxy is definitely something that can contribute to interprofessional disagreement. 4 It may also figure in how a profession sees its unique selling point. For example, Howard Brody and others talk of the complexity with regards to consent arising from the long and varied relationship that a family doctor has with patients and their families, and the power of a patient with capacity in the 'office' rather than in an emergency setting.…”

Books:The Oxford Handbook of Medical Ethics and Law (Oxford Medical Handbooks)

“…This ethical heterodoxy is definitely something that can contribute to interprofessional disagreement. 4 It may also figure in how a profession sees its unique selling point. For example, Howard Brody and others talk of the complexity with regards to consent arising from the long and varied relationship that a family doctor has with patients and their families, and the power of a patient with capacity in the 'office' rather than in an emergency setting.…”

Body. Grade. Relation. Understanding children’s needs through interprofessional learning

“…Collaborative opportunities are often limited by organizational conditions, legal restrictions, and different actors' perceptions of their mission. As suggested by Wiles et al (2016), tension might particularly arise from the different premises such as laws and regulations, for the professional ethics of various occupations. Better understanding of the different layers such as conflicts between profession code of ethics and laws and regulations may lead to better teamwork.…”