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When Clarian Health received its initial Magnet designation in 2004, ethics was identified as an opportunity for improvement. In 2009, Clarian earned Magnet re-designation at Methodist, IU, and Riley hospitals. In the re-designation process, the Magnet appraisers cited ethics resources as exemplary sources of evidence, first for the force Quality of Care and second for the force Consultation and Resources, and identified the program in ethics as a “national model.”
 
At the upcoming October National Magnet Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, Maureen Hancock, clinical director at Riley for pediatric special care and former Fairbanks Center Ethics Fellow, and I will do a presentation highlighting part of our Unit Based Ethics Conversations (UBEC) program.
 
The mission of UBEC is to create an environment with morally open space where participants feel free to express concerns, give and receive feedback, and reflect on their experiences. The goals of the program are to increase participants’ abilities and confidence in dealing with ethically-challenging situations. The focus is on helping those in attendance reflect on their experiences and develop skills to manage the distress they feel when facing ethically-challenging situations in clinical practice.
 
In 2009, we conducted a formal evaluation of the UBEC program. Nurses who work on units that have hosted UBECs for more than six months were asked to participate. Nearly ten percent of survey respondents said they had attended a UBEC. When asked, 86 percent of attendees stated the UBEC helped them to address ethical issues they faced in their clinical practice, and 67 percent stated they felt better-able to manage ethically challenging situations after attending UBECs. Overall, 93 percent would recommend the program to a colleague. All our evidence suggests this is a valuable program that helps nurses deal with ethically-challenging situations.
 
Our Magnet re-designation puts us in the top two percent of hospitals nationwide. Nurses from other hospitals look to Clarian for ways to improve their practice. Sharing our experience with UBECs at the Magnet conference is one way for Clarian to lead by example and provide a benchmark of quality for others to strive toward.
 
The availability of UBECs is one way Clarian is working to be proactive in helping nurses deal with ethical issues in clinical practice. If you would like more information about UBECs, please contact me by replying to this blog.
 
Lucia Wocial, PhD, RN
Clarian Health Nurse Ethicist
 
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