Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Ethics Committees”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Ethical issues in health care institutions. Lesson three: Hospital ethics committees.

The hospital ethics committee serves as the topic for this third lesson of a five-part WMU/AHRA magazine course on ethics. Proliferating during the last ten years and fostered by the Karen Ann Quinlan case, hospital ethics committees today function in three areas: education, development of guidelines and policies, and individual case consultation. Using specific examples in the discussion of each function, the authors give a detailed picture of the valuable contribution these committees make to the institutions they serve.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Taking on organizational ethics. To do so, ethics committees must first prepare themselves.

Healthcare ethics committees which have focused almost entirely on clinical ethics, now need to prepare to deal with organizational ethics, a field that is attracting increasing attention. As they did with clinical ethics, ethics committees members must educate themselves in the demands of the newer field. As before, they must respect the perspectives of the actual decision makers while maintaining an independent framework for analyzing the issues at stake. They must ensure that management is properly represented on the committee if they need guidance from a professional ethicist they should seek one with a strong background in business ethics and social justice. Healthcare organizations are likely to need help with a wide range of ethical issues involving patient services (rationing of resources, for example), business and service plans (mergers and joint ventures, for example), business and professional integrity (conflicts of interest, for example), employee rights and responsibilities (downsizing, for example), and the organization's role in in the community (advocacy and lobbying, for example). To be helpful to the organization, the ethics committee must be prepared to say when cost factors trump other considerations and when they do not. An ethics committee will often be asked to give advice on specific occasions-a proposed new policy, for instance. The most important part of its response is its analysis of the issue. Finally, an ethics committee should view its organization as part of the larger social context.

Committee Membership↗
PubMed1990

Ethics committees.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Ethics, Medical↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ethics committees.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Ethics↗
PubMed2003

The impact of committee characteristics on the success of healthcare ethics committees.

Despite the increase in number and importance of healthcare ethics committees (HECs), little is known about how successful HECs are and what characteristics contribute to their success. The current study attempted: (1) to examine the effect of respondent backgrounds on the self-reported success and characteristics of HECs, (2) to describe the current success status of HECs, and (3) to explore how committee characteristics are related with the success. Questionnaires on characteristics of respondents and committees as well as the rating of success were distributed to 962 acute care hospitals with 300 beds or more across the United States in the calendar year 2000. A total number of 294 chairpersons and 223 members from 334 ethics committees responded to the survey, yielding a 35% response rate. Statistical analyses on the survey data found that the length of services on committees (seniority) and the size of committees were significant contributors to the perceived success of committees. The significant association of seniority suggests that future studies should control for the effect of seniority, possibly using multivariate modeling methods. The more success perceived by large committees indicates a need for small committees to increase the size of their committees so that they can expand their expertise to resolve the wide variety of current issues.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗
PubMed1994

Ethics committees.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Advisory Committees↗
PubMed1991

Ethics committees.

Three kinds of ethics committees should be distinguished, the mandatory local hospital or clinic-based committee, the statutory national committee set up to issue licences, or survey issues highlighted by local committees, or in the national press, reporting to Parliament, and publishing annual reports; and the committee established either temporarily or on a permanent basis to examine outstanding and general problems in the morals of medical practice and research, and to advise Ministers as to possible changes in the law. At all levels, such committees will be concerned with moral problems, and can never, therefore, be expected to come up with uniquely 'correct' solutions. Nevertheless they are essential both to reassure the public and to give guidance to the medical profession, both in clinical practice and research. Such committees should, at all levels, have a non-medical chairman, and a high proportion of 'lay' members. They must have regard to common moral sentiments, and to what will be morally acceptable in the country as a whole (though they can never hope for total agreement with their conclusions). Their recommendations, being in the sphere of public rather than private morality will be as far as possible the outcome of consensus, without which legislation is not possible.

Advisory Committees↗
PubMed1995

The annual reports of Local Research Ethics Committees.

Each Local Research Ethics Committee (LREC) is expected to produce an annual report for its establishing authority. Reports from 145 LRECs were examined with regard to (a) whether the committees were working within the terms of the most recent guidelines from the Department of Health and (b) observations on the role of LRECs with particular reference to accountability. Most LRECs had produced a report, although their length varied greatly. Most reports showed how seriously the committee took its task. Most committees met many of the guidelines; for example, almost all had two or more lay-members. The guideline most frequently not met was that committees should have no more than 12 members. Many committees review very large numbers of projects (maximum 351). Approximately two-thirds provide details in the annual report of individual project titles, their author and the committee decision; all reports should contain this information. Although it may in fact happen more generally, only 23 per cent of the reports referred to any form of monitoring of the eventual outcome of the research. A significant issue to arise from the reports is the extent to which the framework for the operation of LRECs has been confused by the development of the purchaser-provider split. The paper concludes with suggestions for remedying the situation.

Annual Reports as Topic↗
PubMed1998

Exploring the relationship between ethics committees and the wound care clinician.

Ethics Committees have gained increasing popularity since the mid-1970s. This is likely due to the recognized need to more openly discuss the legal and ethical issues of clinicians and their patients. Wound care clinicians play an important role in the interdisciplinary care of the patient. The typical framework of a hospital-based Ethics Committee is described, Ethics Committees as a resource to the wound care clinician is presented, and the role of the wound care clinician as a consultant to the Ethics Committee, from an interdisciplinary perspective, is illustrated.

Consultants↗
PubMed1997

The role of ethics committees in hospice programs.

Ethics committees are still relatively new to hospices, aside from those that are directly related to hospitals. This article takes a brief look at how one company formed and trained its ethics committees for several hospices providing care in the home setting. It delineates the composition of the committee, how the committee is trained, the functions of an operating committee, the various types of committees, and takes a look at the pitfalls and problems of such committees.

Ethics Committees↗
PubMed1994

Institutional ethics committees and the shield of immunity.

Institutional ethics committees have been hailed as a good resource for physicians confronting complex ethical issues in patient care. Physicians may seek ethics committee consultations to receive impartial assistance in decision making, to resolve conflicts, and to avoid cumbersome court procedures and unwieldy litigation. The endorsement of ethics committees by the President's Commission, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the Department of Health and Human Services, along with recent state legislation governing committees in Maryland, New Jersey, and Hawaii, raises questions about the proper scope and authority of ethics committees. We examined the accountability of institutional ethics committees and argue against immunity-conferring statutes that shield physicians who follow a committee's advice from civil and criminal liability.

Decision Making, Organizational↗
PubMed1996

Delays and diversity in the practice of local research ethics committees.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the practices of local research ethics committees and the time they take to obtain ethical approval for a multi-centre study. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of outcome of applications for a multi-centre study to local research ethics committees. SETTING: Thirty-six local research ethics committees covering 38 district health authorities in England. MAIN MEASURES: Response of chairmen and women, the time required to obtain approval, and questions asked in application forms. RESULTS: We received replies from all 36 chairmen contacted: four (11%) granted their approval, and 32 (89%) required our proposal to be considered by their local research ethics committee. Three committees asked us to attend their meetings. The application was approved by all 36 local research ethics committees but the time to obtain ethical approval varied between six to 208 days. One third of the committees did not approve the project within three months, and three took longer than six months. There was considerable variation in the issues raised by local research ethics committees and none conformed exactly to the Royal College of Physicians' guidelines. CONCLUSION: Obtaining ethical approval for a multi-centre study is time-consuming. There is much diversity in the practice of local research ethics committees. Our data support the recommendation for a central or regional review body of multi-centre studies which will be acceptable to all local research ethics committees.

England↗
PubMed2001

Teaching old dogs new tricks--a personal perspective on a decade of efforts by a clinical ethics committee to promote awareness of medical ethics.

To incorporate medical ethics into clinical practice, it must first be understood and valued by health care professionals. The recognition of this principle led to an expanding and continuing educational effort by the ethics committee of the Vancouver General Hospital. This paper reviews this venture, including some pitfalls and failures, as well as successes. Although we began with consultants, it quickly became apparent that education in medical ethics must reach all health care professionals--and medical students as well. Our greatest successes came in the formative years of a medical career (i.e., in medical school and residency training programmes), but other efforts were not wasted, particularly among nurses and other health care professionals. Although this is a personal review of the experience in one institution, the lessons learnt in Vancouver are applicable to the further development of medical ethics in the UK.

Awareness↗