Rafting the ethical rapids

Generalizations about what an organization ethics process would look like and how it should be instituted are often empty or ineffectual. But the requirement itself suggests that attention to ethics in institutions requires more than dispute resolution in individual cases. Case studies--instances of how individual committees manage to ride the waves of change that are buffeting healthcare organizations in America (and Canada) today--can offer encouraging examples of how ethics services can thrive in a time of transition. This paper presents a case study of how one ethics committee is attempting to meet the ethical demands of the new century.