engleski

A critical analysis of hospital ethics committees : opportunity or bureaucratic cul-de-sac

Objective was to study work and membership structure of hospital ethics committees in Croatia. Design: Cross sectional study using a self administered questionnaire specially developed for this purpose. Setting: Croatian hospitals. Main outcome measurements: Knowledge and attitudes of participants, everyday functioning of hospital ethics committees. The structure and the composition of the hospital ethics committees were highly legalistic and formal. Most of them were formed after the introduction of the legal provisions for ethics committees in Croatia (after 1997). The number of members and their occupation were in the majority of cases exact replica of the structure of the committees required by the law (3 physicians + 2 other professions, of whom lawyers and theologians were the most likely candidates for membership)). As in previous surveys our data also show that the main task of ethics committees in hospitals was an analysis of research protocols, thus neglecting the other functions important for a hospital ethics committee: education, case analysis, guidelines formation. The level of knowledge of the members was average but not sufficient enough for the complicated tasks that they were supposed to perform in their everyday work. Their views on certain issues and bioethical dilemmas displayed a high level of paternalism, and over-protectiveness of their patients. The majority of the members who participated in our survey were 50 years and older with, in most cases, no formal education in the field of bioethics.

hospital ethics committees; Croatia

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