Ethics at Health Sciences North
Our mission: apply values to achieve excellent care
Our vision: develop and sustain an ethical culture
The following services to help to achieve this vision:
- Ethics Facilitation Team: provides clinical and organizational ethics consultation to patients, families, healthcare professionals, staff, and learners
- Ethics Committee: Promotes HSN’s ethical framework; hosts ethics education and reviews HSN policies with ethical relevance
- HSN Research Ethics Board: Review ethical acceptability of research involving humans
Patients, families and staff make difficult decisions every day
Sometimes we may ask ourselves:
- Am I making the right decision?
- Who is the decision maker?
- How do I make decisions for others?
- How to navigate disagreement with others about what to do?
HSN has an Ethical Framework to support decisions when faced with these questions.
Talking to the Ethics Facilitation Team can help
When there is uncertainty, you are caught between obligations, or where values conflict, an ethics consultation can help by:
- identifying/clarifying problems
- understanding the values in conflict
- exploring options
- helping to make a plan
Sometimes the problem is that a situation is unsatisfactory. In these instances, please share
suggestions or complaints by contacting Patient Relations.
Who can request an Ethics Consultation?
Anyone can request an Ethics Consultation including patients and families/care partners.
How do I request an Ethics Consultation?
Staff can enter an Ethics referral through Meditech Expanse. Staff, patients and their families/care
partners can contact ethics services directly.
Phone: 705-523-7100 x1025
Email: clinicalethics@hsnsudbury.ca
What happens when I request an ethics consult?
An Ethics Consultation is voluntary, and confidential. The bioethicist will speak with you to learn
your perspective and answer your general questions. They may also ask some questions to help
them understand the ethical issue you are experiencing.
The bioethicist does not make any final decisions, but will offer some suggestions/resources and
will make a plan with you.