What is an ethics committee?

• A. Group addressing ethical dilemmas in healthcare settings
• B. A body that schedules shifts
• C. A set of legal limits
• D. A type of holistic nursing approach

Answer: (A)

An ethics committee is a group that addresses ethical dilemmas in healthcare settings. It brings together professionals from multiple disciplines—such as medicine, nursing, social work, chaplaincy, and administration—to review challenging cases and help ensure decisions respect patient rights and align with professional standards, beneficence, and legal requirements. They typically discuss issues like informed consent, capacity to make decisions, end-of-life choices, confidentiality, and potential conflicts of interest, providing case consultations, guidance for care, and policy development. This role is different from scheduling shifts, which is about staffing, or from a set of legal limits, which are statutes or regulations, or from a holistic nursing approach, which refers to a care philosophy.