NH Ethics Service provided high quality, standardized and timely services to all members of the organization as well as patients, residents, clients, and families.
Our goals
- Foster a culture of ethics
- Ensure ethical principles guide every aspect of Northern Health operations
- Support justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion
- Provide recommendations, interventions and education for families, patients, and teams to promote ethical practice in health care
Services
The NH Clinical Ethics Service is a free, confidential consultation service available to staff members, patients, clients, residents, and their loved ones.
When to request a consultation?
An ethics consultation in health care should be requested when there are uncertainties or conflicts related to value-laden concerns in patient care. This could include situations such as:
- Uncertainty or disagreements about the care plan implementation
- Concerns about continuing, stopping or refusing treatment
- Uncertainty about who should make a health care decision
- Questions about justice, equity, and human rights
- Tensions related to values, religion or culture
- Experience of moral distress
Please note that if you have complaints about the quality of the care received, the Patient Care Quality Office should be contacted at QualityOffice.PatientCare@northernhealth.ca.
What happens during an ethics consultation?
A trained ethics consultant will create a safe space for dialogue, clarify ethical issues, facilitate discussions, and provide expertise and resources to achieve a shared understanding of the situation that can open a path to move forward.
Who can request a consult?
Health care team members, patients, clients, residents, or family members. A referral is not needed.
How to request a consultation?
There are three different ways to request an ethics consultation:
- Print and fax this confidential form
- Call toll-free 1-888-233-7005, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm
- Email us at ethics@northernhealth.ca
What happens after a request is submitted?
Once the Ethics Service is contacted, a team member will connect with you to set up the consult.
Resources
- NH Ethics practice model (PDF) - Northern Health
- NH Standards of conduct (PDF) - Northern Health
- Ethics service brochure (PDF) - Northern Health
- Ethics service poster (PDF) - Northern Health