How do I request an ethics consultation at a hospital?
Ask any of these people: your nurse, the spiritual care office, patient relations, or the social worker. You do not need a doctor to request it for you. You do not need to be Catholic. It is free.
Ethics consultation is one of the most underused services in a hospital. It is not a tribunal, and it does not overrule you. It is a small group. Its job is to help patients, families, and clinicians work through a hard decision. That might be a feeding tube, or a disagreement between siblings. It might be a treatment the team believes is futile that the family wants continued. It might be an advance directive that seems to clash with the plan.
The Ethical and Religious Directives expect Catholic facilities to make this available. Directive 26 says each person or surrogate should have access to "morally sound resources and guidance, including pastoral counsel and ethics consultations, so as to be able to form his or her conscience."
Does the situation involve religion as well as medicine? Ask for the chaplain and the ethics consultation together, not separately. Families in conflict at the end of life are usually not arguing about theology. They are frightened of abandoning someone. It helps to have both kinds of authority in the room at once.
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Want the full picture? Read our complete explanation: What to Expect at a Catholic Hospital
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