Including Organizational Ethics in Policy Review Processes in Healthcare Institutions: A View from Canada

• DOI: 10.1007/s10730-008-9067-4
• Publication Date: 2008-07-16T09:18:04Z
• Authors: Fiona McDonald; Christy Simpson; Fran O’Brien
• Keywords: Organizational ethics; Philosophy of medicine; Medical law; Military medical ethics; Applied ethics; Institution

Expanding existing clinical ethical processes to include organizational ethics is a work in progress. Drawing from our time as members of the Ethics Committee at the IWK Health Centre in Canada, we focus on our experiences of moving organizational ethics from 'theory to practice', particularly in regard to the operational and functional challenges associated with an organizational ethics committee's role in policy development and review. Even in an institution with a relatively strong commitment to ethics and ethical practice, the inclusion of an organizational ethics perspective has raised new questions and challenges and new issues to address.