Need for ethics supportin clinical practice and suggestionfor an Ethics Consultation Service:views of Nurses and Physicians workingin Italian Healthcare Institutions

摘要

Introduction. Ethics Consultation Services (ECS) and Ethical Committees manage severalaspects of clinical ethical issues. In Italy there are only Ethical Committees, and,although they should also perform ethical consultations, their activity is limited to approvingclinical trial protocols.Aim. To analyse the opinions of a sample of Nurses and Physicians about their motivationsto ask for an ethical consultation.Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of Italian Nurses andPhysicians.Results. Respondents would request ethical consultations mainly for end-of-life issuesand, secondarily, for conflicts with patients’ families. Respondents identified the provisionof suggestions for hospital policy, the development of ethical guidelines, and thecounselling for individual cases requested by clinicians, patients or families as the mostimportant functions of ECS.Conclusions. ECS activities should focus on counselling and support to decisions in complexethical situations according to institutional policies and guidelines self-developed.