An Argument for Standardized Ethical Directives for Secular Healthcare Services. 2022

Abram L Brummett, and Jamie C Watson
Assistant Professor in the Department of Foundational Medical Studies at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan, and a Clinical Ethicist at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan USA. abram.brummett@gmail.com.

We argue that the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities has endorsed a facilitation approach to clinical ethics consultation that asserts that bioethicists can offer moral recommendations that are well-grounded in bioethical consensus. We claim that the closest thing the field currently has to a citable, nationally endorsed bioethical consensus are the 22 Core References used to construct the questions for the Healthcare Ethics Consultant-Certified (HEC-C) exam. We acknowledge that the Core References reflect some important points of bioethical consensus, but note they are unwieldy, repetitive, and sometimes inconsistent on important issues faced by clinical ethicists. In this article, we draw carefully qualified inspiration from the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs) to argue for the creation of a concise, nationally endorsed bioethical consensus document on moral issues commonly faced in clinical ethics, what we call the Standardized Ethical Guidelines for Secular Health Care Services (SEGs). We observe that such a document would better meet the expectations of stakeholders, clinical ethicists, and their trainees who desire moral recommendations grounded in a clearly articulated bioethical consensus, and we defend the SEGs from some common objections.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D003695 Delivery of Health Care The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population. Delivery of Dental Care,Health Care,Health Care Delivery,Health Care Systems,Community-Based Distribution,Contraceptive Distribution,Delivery of Healthcare,Dental Care Delivery,Distribution, Non-Clinical,Distribution, Nonclinical,Distributional Activities,Healthcare,Healthcare Delivery,Healthcare Systems,Non-Clinical Distribution,Nonclinical Distribution,Activities, Distributional,Activity, Distributional,Care, Health,Community Based Distribution,Community-Based Distributions,Contraceptive Distributions,Deliveries, Healthcare,Delivery, Dental Care,Delivery, Health Care,Delivery, Healthcare,Distribution, Community-Based,Distribution, Contraceptive,Distribution, Non Clinical,Distributional Activity,Distributions, Community-Based,Distributions, Contraceptive,Distributions, Non-Clinical,Distributions, Nonclinical,Health Care System,Healthcare Deliveries,Healthcare System,Non Clinical Distribution,Non-Clinical Distributions,Nonclinical Distributions,System, Health Care,System, Healthcare,Systems, Health Care,Systems, Healthcare
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001675 Bioethics A branch of applied ethics that studies the value implications of practices and developments in life sciences, medicine, and health care. Biomedical Ethics,Health Care Ethics,Ethics, Biomedical,Ethics, Health Care
D026688 Bioethical Issues Clusters of topics that fall within the domain of BIOETHICS, the field of study concerned with value questions that arise in biomedicine and health care delivery. Bioethical Issue,Issue, Bioethical,Issues, Bioethical
D026822 Ethicists Persons trained in philosophical or theological ethics who work in clinical, research, public policy, or other settings where they bring their expertise to bear on the analysis of ethical dilemmas in policies or cases. (Bioethics Thesaurus) Bioethicists,Bioethics Consultants,Clinical Ethicist,Clinical Ethicists,Ethicist, Clinical,Ethicists, Clinical,Ethics Consultants,Bioethicist,Bioethics Consultant,Consultants, Bioethics,Consultants, Ethics,Ethicist,Ethics Consultant
D032781 Codes of Ethics Systematic statements of principles or rules of appropriate professional conduct, usually established by professional societies. Ethical Codes,Ethical Oaths,Code of Ethics,Codes of Professional Ethics,Ethical Directives,Code, Ethical,Codes, Ethical,Directive, Ethical,Directives, Ethical,Ethical Code,Ethical Directive,Ethical Oath,Ethics Code,Ethics Code, Professional,Ethics Codes,Ethics Codes, Professional,Oath, Ethical,Oaths, Ethical,Professional Ethics Code,Professional Ethics Codes
D033061 Ethics Consultation Services provided by an individual ethicist (ETHICISTS) or an ethics team or committee (ETHICS COMMITTEES, CLINICAL) to address the ethical issues involved in a specific clinical case. The central purpose is to improve the process and outcomes of patients' care by helping to identify, analyze, and resolve ethical problems. Consultation, Ethics,Consultations, Ethics,Ethics Consultations

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