FK-KMK UGM. Prof. Bert Molewijk from UMC University of Amsterdam said that ethics is learning from each other. “Not only teaching what is morally good but also dialoguing about what is morally good,” he said.

The explanation was delivered in the CBMH (Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities) webinar of the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing entitled “Improving Quality of Care, Cooperation, and Self-care through Clinical Ethics Support” on Wednesday (1/11).

Prof. Bert said that clinical ethics support is an issue for all of us. It can be easily found in the daily work of health workers. He also gave some examples of explicit moral questions in clinical practice, such as ‘when is it appropriate to use coercion in care?’, ‘should we bear the high cost of this rare disease?’, and ‘who is co-decision-making for patients?’.

Prof. Bert presented examples of ethical challenges that may be found in everyday life. For example, we do not know what is morally good in some situations, we have two different values and goals, and we have different viewpoints in the team regarding what is morally good.

In dealing with clinical ethics cases, there needs to be a moral case discussion. A moral case discussion is a structured dialog facilitated by a trained facilitator to generate answers to moral questions. Dialogue here is not just about being nice, but is a theoretical necessity. (Nirwana/Reporter)