Reflective Journal - Week 6

I learned a lot about ethics this week and the usefulness of an ethics committee. Ethics are a complicated thing as they are subjective person to person. What one person values another one might not. This conflict can often present with difficult dilemmas and situations, especially in the medical field. I have rarely thought about or heard about ethics committees. Although their purpose is meaningful I just haven’t had to deal with them at all up until this point in my nursing career. Now with learning about these committees, it is quite comforting. I have often thought about medical moral decision-making and the grey areas often involved. The legality and the ethical decision-making involved in such situations seems so much less stressful and simpler with the availability of an ethics committee. I think that it is great that these committees are required throughout healthcare.

An ethics committee is a group of people that are put together to present ideas and perspective on the right ethical decisions on specific situations. This group often involves many different professionals who bring a variety of opinion to the discussion. These groups are usually brought together on a case by case basis and they are able to provide advice to the medical team on how to resolve a situation.  This committee helps alleviate the decision-making process on the individual and helps the medical team come to a decisive and legal group decision. Our group assignments this week allowed us to share our personal views of an ethical dilemma. I felt like this was a great representation of the usefulness of an ethics committee, as well as what the discussions within an eithical committee would be like. I find the ethical committee availability to be a very comforting thing as I progress in my nursing career. The availability of this assistance is exciting to me. I will move forward in my nursing career confident in my own decision making, but also aware that I am not alone in complicated and moral complications