title: Emotional Support for Health Care Professionals: A Therapeutic Role for the Hospital Ethics Committee.
abstract: Hospital ethics committees (HECs) are typically charged with addressing ethical disputes, conflicts, and dilemmas that arise in the course of patient care. HECs are not widely viewed as having a therapeutic role for health care professionals who experience psychological distress or anticipatory grief in the course of discharging professional duties. A case is presented in which an ethics consultation was requested, chiefly, to secure emotional support for health care professionals who had been asked by a patient to discontinue life-sustaining treatments. As the case demonstrates, HECs may be called upon to provide emotional support and reassurance to health care professionals who willingly carry out psychologically difficult actions, even though these actions may be ethically uncontroversial. In providing this service, the HEC may not necessarily engage in its customary activity of deliberating an ethics issue and resolving a conflict but may still provide valuable assistance, as in the case presented.
authors.affiliation: a Pulmonary Section, Medical Service, Veterans Affairs Loma Linda VA Healthcare System; and Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine , Loma Linda University School of Medicine , Loma Linda , California , USA.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Chooljian
authors.affiliation: b Extended Care (Nursing Home Care, Home Care, Hospice and Palliative Care), Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System; and Division of General Medical Disciplines, Department of Medicine , Stanford University School of Medicine , Palo Alto , California , USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hallenbeck
authors.affiliation: c Director's Office Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System; and Division of General Medical Disciplines, Department of Medicine , Stanford University School of Medicine , Palo Alto , California , USA.
authors.forename: Stephen C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ezeji-Okoye
authors.affiliation: d Social Work Service , Central Texas Veterans Health Care System , Temple , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sebesta
authors.affiliation: e Pulmonary Section, Medical Service , Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System , Palo Alto , California , USA.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iqbal
authors.affiliation: f Pulmonary Section, Medical Service, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System; and Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine , Stanford University School of Medicine , Palo Alto , California , USA.
authors.forename: Ware G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Kuschner
mesh_terms: D028741:Ethics Committees, Clinical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006117:Grief; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D028761:Withholding Treatment
keywords: Bereavement; grief/loss; health care; palliative care; professional caregivers