What Authority? Whose Interests? The Challenges of Decision Making for Impaired Newborns

Clinical Ethics Grand Rounds
7th Annual Pediatric Visiting Scholar
Special Event with the Department of Pediatrics

D. Micah Hester, PhD
Chair of the Department of Medical Humanities and Bioethics
Professor of Medical Humanities and Pediatrics at UAMS

All are welcome
The hallmark of decision-making for newborns with severe impairments is that decisions are always about, and never with, the patient him/herself. Parents and providers are challenged to make life changing, even life-ending decisions for these small children, while our ability to predict future outcomes and interests is limited, at best. Join us for a discussion regarding the ethical scope of decisional authority in light of what has been called “the best interests standard.”
Jointly sponsored by the UNC Center for Bioethics and the UNC Hospital Ethics Committee, Clinical Ethics Grand Rounds offers an innovative and interactive forum for engaging with ethical, legal, and policy issues of particular salience to patient care within the hospital. This series may fulfill requirements towards continuing ethics education in nursing*, social work, and other departments and divisions. There are no commercial support or conflicts of interest to report. Education credits require attendance and completion of the evaluation. *UNC Health Care Nursing Practice and Professional Development, is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the North Carolina Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.