Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr;48(4):256-260.
doi: 10.1136/medethics-2020-107096. Epub 2021 Mar 15.

Hospital chaplains as ethical consultants in making difficult medical decisions

Waldemar Głusiec  1
Affiliations

Hospital chaplains as ethical consultants in making difficult medical decisions

Waldemar Głusiec. J Med Ethics. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Background and aims: Few Polish hospitals have Hospital Ethics Committee (HECs) and the services are not always adequate. In this situation, the role of HECs, in providing, among others, ethical advice on the discontinuation of persistent therapies, may be taken over by other entities. The aim of our research was to investigate, how often and on what issues hospital chaplains are asked for ethical advice in reaching difficult medical decisions.

Methods: A survey of 100 Roman Catholic chaplains was conducted, that is, at least 10% of all chaplains currently working in Polish hospitals.

Results: Of the participants, 29% confirmed receiving requests for advice in making a morally difficult medical decision. Receiving this type of request was not conditional on the place of their service, duration of their pastoral mission or HEC membership. The largest group of chaplains (21%) encounter questions concerning the ethical dilemmas associated with discontinuing persistent therapy. Patients and their families most often raise issues related to the methods of birth control, and the medical staff raise the issue of termination of pregnancy-as reported by 9% and 15% of chaplains, respectively. Most of the chaplains asked for help (79%) experience a deficit of specialist knowledge in the area of medicine or ethics.

Conclusions: In order to improve the quality of ethical consultations in Polish hospitals, in addition to further development of HECs, it is postulated to develop a system for bioethical education of chaplains.

Keywords: abortion; end of life care; ethics committees/consultation; health personnel; in vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Categories of people who turn to chaplains for ethical advice in making difficult medical decision.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Thematic scope of ethical questions that the chaplains were asked by patients, families or medical staff.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. European Network of Health Care Chaplaincy . Standards for health care chaplaincy in Europe, Turku, 2002. Available: http://enhcc.eu/turku_standards.htm [Accessed 5 Nov 2020].
    1. . Act of November 6, 2008 on patient’s rights and the Patient’s Rights Ombudsman (Journal of Laws of 2009, No. 52, item 417).
    1. Główny Urząd Statystyczny . Wyznania religijne: stowarzyszenia narodowościowe i etniczne w Polsce 2009-2001. Warszawa: Departament Badań Społecznych i Warunków Życia; 2013: 9–184.
    1. UNESCO . Guide N°.1 establishing bioethics committees, Paris, 2005. Available: http://www.unesco-chair-bioethics.org/?mbt_book=guide-no-1-establishing-... [Accessed 5 Nov 2020].
    1. UNESCO . Universal declaration on bioethics and human rights, Paris, 2006. Available: https://en.unesco.org/themes/ethics-science-and-technology/bioethics-and... [Accessed 5 Nov 2020].

Publication types