Abstract
Clinical ethics committees (CECs) are multidisciplinary and independent groups, including health professionals and lay members that aim to provide support for decision-making on ethical issues arising from several aspects of patient care. Their primary functions are ethics education, policy development and review, and case consultation. More recently, some CECs, particularly those affiliated with academic institutions and large healthcare systems, have expanded their traditional functions to become more comprehensive ethics programs, addressing both clinical and organizational ethics issues.
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Further Readings
Wilson Ross, J., Glaser, J. W., Rasinski-Gregory, D., McIver Gibson, J., & Bayley, C. (1993). Health care ethics committees. The next generation. Chicago: American Hospital Publishing.
Steinkamp, N. (2007). Hospital ethics committees and bioethics consultation. In R. Pegoraro, G. Putoto, & E. Wray (Eds.), Hospital based bioethics (pp. 131–151). Padova: Piccin.
Viafora, C. (Ed.). (2005). Clinical bioethics. A search for the foundations. Dordrecht: Springer.
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Pegoraro, R., Petrini, C. (2016). Committees: Clinical Ethics Committees. In: ten Have, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09483-0_105
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