Making the call: a proactive ethics framework

Abstract

This manuscript proposes a proactive framework for preventing or mitigating disruptive ethical conflicts that often result from delayed or avoided conversations about the ethics of care. Four components of the framework are explained and illustrated with evidenced-based actions. Clinical implications of adopting a prevention-based, system-wide ethics framework are discussed. While some aspects of ethically-difficult situations are unique, system patterns allow some issues to occur repeatedly--often with lingering effects such as healthcare providers' disengagement and moral distress (McAndrew et al. Journal of Trauma Nursing 18(4):221-230, 2011), compromised inter-professional relationships (Rosenstein and O'Daniel American Journal of Nursing, 105(1):54-64, 2005), weakened ethical climates (Pauly et al. HEC Forum 24:1-11, 2012), and patient safety concerns (Cimiotti et al. American Journal of Infection Control 40:486-490, 2012). This work offers healthcare providers and clinical ethicists a framework for developing a comprehensive set of proactive, ethics-specific, and evidence-based strategies for mitigating ethical conflicts. Furthermore, the framework aims to encourage innovative research and novel ways of collaborating to reduce such conflicts and the moral distress that often results.