The purpose of ethics consultation is to provide support to patients, families, health care teams, and others who are working through ethically challenging situations.
Some common misconceptions about ethics consultation include: that the ethics consultants know the “right” answer; that the ethics consultants are there to judge; that the ethics consultants only get involved when something unethical has happened; and that the ethics consultants can “convince” others to do something.
At the outset of consultations ethics consultants often explicitly establish what the purpose and focus of the discussion is, in an attempt to manage expectations and dispel misconceptions.