March 24, 2000
Reintroducing the FYI column This week, Hotline is reintroducing the special column called "FYI" to help keep MGH staff and employees apprised of important information related to their roles and responsibilities within the MGH community. The column will be run in conjunction with the FYI poster and e-mail campaign. The FYI campaign also is meant to help prepare MGHers for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations survey, which is expected to take place this fall.
FYI: MGH resource guide to hospital ethics
In an environment like the MGH, situations can arise that present challenging ethical dilemmas — often without straightforward, clear-cut solutions. For example: Who can a nurse talk with about a dying patient who requires specific decisions about his or her care but has no friends or family? How can an investigator find ethical guidance for planning and conducting an AIDS research study involving patients from the hospital? Where can patients find more information about obtaining and completing an advance directive for their care?
The MGH Ethics Task Force is issuing an updated guide to inform MGHers about the many resources in the hospital that can help address these day-to-day ethical issues. The guide lists the many committees, consult services, administrative resources and educational opportunities that exist to help staff — as well as patients, families and students — work through ethically problematic situations.
According to Alex Flather-Morgan Cist, MD, a member of the MGH Ethics Task Force and other hospitalwide ethics committees, the first step for a staff person to take when faced with an ethical problem is to talk with those directly involved in the situation and with a supervisor. "Staff members should feel comfortable raising any issues and seeking guidance," says Cist.
Some of the resources listed in the ethics guide include the following:
- The Optimum Care Committee provides consultation about the
- use, limitation or discontinuation of life-sustaining treatments.
- The Chaplaincy Program offers ethics consultations regarding spiritual care of patients as well as patient and family support.
- The Human Research Committee facilitates investigators’ compliance with hospital policies and government agency
- regulations by reviewing, evaluating and approving research involving human subjects.
- The Office of Patient Advocacy staff serves as liaisons between patients and the hospital. Patient
- advocates address patient rights and responsibilities,
- advance directives, and moral and ethical issues.
- The Ethics Task Force is a multidisciplinary group that meets monthly to discuss ethical issues of interest to the hospital community. The task force sponsors the Ethics Forums to discuss ethical topics of interest with staff and other visitors.
The MGH Guide to Hospital Ethics Resources is being distributed throughout the hospital to physicians, nurse managers, house officers and new employees. Copies also can be found in the Blum Patient and Family Learning Center. For more information, call Cist at 6-3734 or Sandy Dodge at 4-5348.
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