title: Patient advocacy in clinical ethics consultation.
abstract: The question of whether clinical ethics consultants may engage in patient advocacy in the course of consultation has not been addressed, but it highlights for the field that consultants' allegiances, and the boundaries of appropriate professional practice, must be better understood. I consider arguments for and against patient advocacy in clinical ethics consultation, which demonstrate that patient advocacy is permissible, but not central to the practice of consultation. I then offer four recommendations for consultants who engage in patient advocacy, and consider the implications of this issue for the field.(1).
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, University of NorthCarolina, Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA. lrasmuss@uncc.edu
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000941:ethics; D016265:Conflict of Interest; D026822:Ethicists; D033061:Ethics Consultation / Q000592:standards; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D033221:Jehovah's Witnesses; D033242:Minors; D017008:Negotiating; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D024382:Professional Role; D012068:Religion and Medicine