Besides our protocols and medical guidelines there is one factor that always guides us with every decision that we make: our own set of moral values. This invisible force guides us through the constant choices that all of us must make every day. Choices like: “Should we make this scan even though the patient is too fragile to survive any medical implications of that scan? Should we try to save this patient or is letting him go peacefully more humane?” All these decisions need to be made either because it is part of the job or because care is finite: there are limits to the availability of medical care professionals and financial means. Therefore, we have to choose.
Ethically, there are three main moral principles of distributive justice (i.e. how to justify your choices when choosing in times of scarcity): utilitarianism, egalitarianism and prioritarianism. All of these three principles usually apply to some extent to any given situation. Which one is dominant however varies between one person and the next. This leads to different personal choices which may cause moral stress on an individual level or within a group. Knowing more about these principles offers you more insight in your own moral values and provides you with the vocabulary to talk about them with colleagues and team members. This will enlarge your moral resilience, reduce moral stress and help you cope with tragic situations.
During this interactive workshop we will use ER cases to demonstrate the main moral principles of distributive justice in practice and illustrate their implications. Together we will investigate where you stand with respect to the cases and your colleagues and whether there is such a thing as a true North on our moral compass!