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Monday, November 2, 2009: 2:00 PM
Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to identify strategies for bringing ethics to the forefront of clinical practice.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will describe how to integrate a nurse ethicist into a complex organization.
One complex health care institution has benefited from the addition of an innovative resource, a nurse ethicist. The Nurse Ethicist is charged with creating and sustaining programs in clinical ethics and nursing ethics education. The goal is to improve the capacity of the institution’s nurses to manage the ethical conflict and moral distress inherent in the care of patients. The Program in Nursing Ethics provides staff education, consultation and support and conducts research. The creation of the nursing ethics program demonstrates a strong commitment to nurses and a clear vision for the critical role they play in the ethical care of patients. This paper describes the program in nursing ethics and discusses the central role of a nurse ethicist in promoting ethical nursing practice within a complex health care institution.