Medical Ethics
The care providers and staff at Swedish Hospital are committed to providing patients and their families with the highest standard of safety and welfare. These standards include affirming each patient's right to participate in their health care decisions, and treating patients and their families with dignity, competence and respect.
We recognize that health care decisions are not always simple or easy to make. Physicians and nurses can try to provide information as clearly and sensitively as possible, and can even make recommendations about what to do. Still, you have decisions to make, in accordance with your values and convictions. You may accept or refuse any or all tests and treatments that are offered or recommended to you.
Sometimes it may be hard to decide what choice is truly in the patient's best interest, or what course of treatment best reflects what the patient wants. Uncertainty can make choices difficult. Medical Ethics means going through the process of determining what is the "best" or "right" thing to do when you are uncertain, when the choices and their consequences are not evident -- and when those involved disagree about what to do.
To learn more about medical ethics or to schedule a consultation, call
773-878-8200, ext. 5366.
