Abstract
There is no doubt that emotions have an important effect on practices of moral reasoning such as clinical ethics consultation. Empathy is not only a basic human emotion but also an important and learnable skill for health care professionals. A basic amount of empathy is essential both in patient care and in clinical ethics consultation. This article debates the “adequate dose” of empathy in ethics consultations in clinical settings and tries to identify possible situations within the process of consultation in which this crucial feeling is at risk.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the HealthCare Ethics Committee at Erlangen University Hospital and our colleagues at Berlin University and Hannover Medical School; particularly thanks to Professor Wolfgang Rascher (Erlangen) and Dr. Thela Wernstedt (Erlangen/Hannover) for fruitful debates. Furthermore, Professor Jochen Vollmann (Bochum), Dr. Axel Weidtmann (Erlangen), and Dr. Uwe Fahr (Erlangen) were involved in ethics consultation and documentation at our University hospital. Dr. Kurt Schmidt (Frankfurt) and Professor Mark Cherry (Austin) were empathic and helpful in the final process of editing.
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Bruns, F., Frewer, A. Ethics Consultation and Empathy. HEC Forum 23, 247–255 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10730-011-9164-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10730-011-9164-7