[Sent – 15 January 2020 to the 170+ surgeons et al of our Surgical Ethics (Education) Consortium]
Greetings from St. Louis and WashU. For ‘Surgical Ethics Education Resources’ communication #27, I have inserted below a self-assessment tool I created a dozen or so years ago for a hospital ethics committee I was mentoring at the time. I first reviewed several self-assessment tools I found through a literature search and then I constructed this self-assessment tool based on a blending of selections from these sources with my initial draft. I have found that variations on this self-assessment tool can be helpful with surgical ethics education curricula for faculty, residents and medical students as well as with nurses and social workers. I welcome your feedback. Doug
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Ethics Knowledge, Fluency, and Skills: Self-Assessment Tool
The purpose of this tool is to help you assess your progress over the past two years in developing the knowledge, fluency, and skills associated with analyzing the ethical dimensions of care.
Directions: Please circle the answer that best describes your progress.
Communication skills in ethics discussions. For instance --
Skills for analyzing conflict/s about the ethical dimensions of care. For instance --
Based on the preceding items, how would you rate your overall ability to analyze conflicts about the ethical dimensions of care?
(Circle a number on the spectrum)
- Communicate interest, respect, support, and empathy
- Educate others regarding the ethical dimensions of the case
- Elicit the views of others in a nonthreatening way
- Enable others to communicate effectively and be heard
- Accurately and respectfully represent the views of individuals with conflicting views
- Recognize and address barriers to communication
Not Improved<------------> Improved
-5 . . . -3 . . . -1 . . . 0 . . . 1 . . . 3 . . . 5
___________________ -5 . . . -3 . . . -1 . . . 0 . . . 1 . . . 3 . . . 5
Skills for analyzing conflict/s about the ethical dimensions of care. For instance --
- Gather relevant data (e.g., medical facts, patients’ preferences and interests, and other participants’ preferences and interests)
- Assess social and interpersonal dynamics (e.g., power relations, racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious differences)
- Distinguish ethical dimensions of the case from the legal dimensions of the case
- Identify quality of life assumptions that involved parties bring to the situation
- Identify and clarify the relevant values of involved participants
Based on the preceding items, how would you rate your overall ability to analyze conflicts about the ethical dimensions of care?
(Circle a number on the spectrum)
Not Improved<------------> Improved
-5 . . . -3 . . . -1 . . . 0 . . . 1 . . . 3 . . . 5
-5 . . . -3 . . . -1 . . . 0 . . . 1 . . . 3 . . . 5
___________________
Skills for providing guidance when there are conflicts about the ethical dimensions of care. For instance --
Skills for providing guidance when there are conflicts about the ethical dimensions of care. For instance --
- Formulate an ethics question based on the circumstances of a case
- Identify the ethically appropriate decision makers (e.g., patient, surrogate, health care team members)
- Access and apply relevant sources of information re hospital policy and professional codes of ethics
- Clarify relevant ethics concepts present in the case (e.g., confidentiality, informed consent, best interest, justice)
- Identify and assess a range of options in the case
- Recognize possible areas of conflict stemming from your personal values
Based on the preceding items, how would you rate your overall ability to provide guidance when there are conflicts about the ethical dimensions of care?
(Circle a number on the spectrum)
Core ethics knowledge. For instance --
(Circle a number on the spectrum)
In summary, are you more confident now (in comparison to two years ago) to participate in discussions about cases in which the ethical dimensions of care have become problematic? (Circle a number on the spectrum)
(Circle a number on the spectrum)
Not Improved<------------> Improved
-5 . . . -3 . . . -1 . . . 0 . . . 1 . . . 3 . . . 5
___________________ -5 . . . -3 . . . -1 . . . 0 . . . 1 . . . 3 . . . 5
Core ethics knowledge. For instance --
- Familiarity with different approaches to ethical analysis (e.g., consequentialist, principle-based, virtue-based, casuistic, organizational)
- Shared decision making (e.g., decision-making capacity, informed consent process, surrogate decision making, advance directives)
- End-of-life care (e.g., life-sustaining treatments, medical futility)
- Professionalism (e.g., conflict of interest, truth telling, cultural sensitivity, confidentiality)
- Use of limited resources
(Circle a number on the spectrum)
Not Improved<------------> Improved
-5 . . . -3 . . . -1 . . . 0 . . . 1 . . . 3 . . . 5
___________________ -5 . . . -3 . . . -1 . . . 0 . . . 1 . . . 3 . . . 5
In summary, are you more confident now (in comparison to two years ago) to participate in discussions about cases in which the ethical dimensions of care have become problematic? (Circle a number on the spectrum)
No <---------------------> Yes
-5 . . . -3 . . . -1 . . . 0 . . . 1 . . . 3 . . . 5
___________________ -5 . . . -3 . . . -1 . . . 0 . . . 1 . . . 3 . . . 5
