Nurse Ethicist, Full-time, Days

at Northwestern Memorial Healthcare in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Job Description

Location Chicago, Illinois
Business Unit Northwestern Medicine Corporate
Job REQID 92759
Job Function General Healthcare
Shift Day Job (1st)

Description
The Nurse Ethicistreflects the mission, vision, and values of NM, adheres to the organization's Code of Ethics and Corporate Compliance Program, and complies with all relevant policies, procedures, guidelines and all other regulatory and accreditation standards.
The Nurse Ethicist is charged with promoting ethical competence and moral resilience of nurses at all levels of the organization through education, initiatives to mitigate moral distress, and oversight of the Clinical Ethics Resource Nurse (CERN) program. The position has been created at the request of nursing executive leadership, even as the Nurse Ethicist will function as a core member of the Medical Ethics team.
The Medical Ethics Program responds to over 400 formal requests for clinical consultation each year spanning a broad range of concerns, medical specialties, and complexity. Requests from nurses (APNs, RNs, and Nursing Managers) account for almost 25% of the current clinical consultation volume, in no small part due to the highly visible role of the 25-30 CERNs who serve as point persons for ethical concerns for all ICUs as well as medicine, neurology, surgical, oncology, and other specialty units.
The NMH Medical Ethics Program promotes ethical competency of providers through monthly Ethics Grand Rounds, Unit-based Ethics Case Conferences, and an Ethics Foundations Course, among other initiatives. Recognizing that ethical dilemmas, uncertainty, and conflicts are a large contributor to staff distress and burnout, the program supports an active Moral Distress Consultation Service with demonstrated success in facilitating interprofessional communication, building moral resilience, and promoting ethical climate.
The Medical Ethics Program also partners with hospital administration, nursing leadership, and medical faculty to address organizational level issues when requested such as Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives and Advanced Care Planning Improvement Projects. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Medical Ethics Program led NM system-wide efforts to promote ethical allocation of scarce resources (ICU beds, ventilators, PPE) and developed guidelines for balancing patient rights with risk in visitation and discharge protocols. Promoted by the need for preparedness, the ethics program partners with key stakeholders in emerging and anticipated areas of need.
A robust Medical Ethics Committee includes diverse membership from among physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, administrative leadership, legal counsel, and community representatives, who assist in policy development and implementation of programs and who serve as ethics champions throughout the institution. A warm collegial exchange flows between the NMH Medical Ethics Program and its campus neighbors of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, the Donnelly Program for Bioethics at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, and the Ethics Advisory Board at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital.
Responsibilities:
Collaborates with Nursing leadership to identify ethics concerns of members of the nursing workforce at NMH/NMG.
Develops and implements ethics education for NMH and NMG nursing workforce (Nurse Residency Program for all new NMH and NMG hires and Oncology Nurses; Ethics Grand Rounds for Nursing Week, Nursing Professional Development Fair).
Oversees the Clinical Ethics Resource Nurse (CERN) Program.
Promotes nurse well-being and retention through the expansion and implementation of programs designed to mitigate moral distress and promote moral agency/resilience, in collaboration with the Medical Ethics Director, Nursing Leadership, and the NM Office of Well-being.
Conducts high quality independent and collaborative nursing ethics research and scholarship.
Provides healthcare ethics consultation throughout the continuum of care, working collaboratively with healthcare providers, patients, and proxy decision-makers to deliver high quality and sensitive consultation to patients and their loved ones.
Develops and provides multidisciplinary ethics education for staff, including physicians and house staff.
Develops, reviews and revises system policies and guidelines requiring ethical guidance or oversight.
Engages in preventive ethics activities and initiatives in collaboration with leadership and/or appropriate stakeholders, consistent with established mechanisms for documentation and reporting.
Evaluates and improves healthcare ethics consultation... For full info follow application link.

Northwestern Medicine is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, veteran status, disability or sexual orientation.