Healthcare workers' perception of the usefulness of a healthcare ethics consultation service

Abstract

Background and objective: Clinical ethics consultation services (CEC) have arisen from Healthcare Ethics Committees (HEC) to address ethical conflicts in real-time. Our aim was to determine the perception of usefulness of a CEC service among healthcare workers one year after its creation as well as to assess changes in trends in the use of the CEC and HEC between 2015 and 2021.

Materials and methods: This observational, cross-sectional study was based on a standardized survey of healthcare workers at an urban tertiary care hospital. The results were also compared to those from an identical survey conducted in the same population in 2015.

Results: A total of 213 professionals participated (mean age 44 ± 11 years, 69% women). The professionals were more familiar with the HEC than the CEC service (94% vs 61%; p < 0.001). Forty-five individuals (21%) had consulted the CEC since its implementation; 95% of them found the consultation useful. Physicians knew about and used the CEC more than other groups of professionals. The degree of knowledge of the HEC increased significantly by 2021 compared to 2015 (94% v. 76%; p < 0.001). Some areas for improvement identified were the need for greater dissemination of the service, guaranteeing institutional resources to maintain the service, and encouraging greater participation from different professional groups.

Conclusions: Knowledge of the institutional HEC and CEC services has increased in recent years among healthcare workers, who considered the CEC service to be useful for addressing ethical conflicts in daily practice.

Keywords: Clinical ethics; Comités de ética para la asistencia sanitaria; Consultoría ética; Ethics consultation; Healthcare ethics committees; Ética clínica.