Arizona Bioethics Network
The Arizona Bioethics Network was established as a community of practice late in FY2010 in response to the outpouring of feedback from SLHI’s Balancing Act: Ethics in Health Care publication and its subsequent “The ‘R’ Word: Rationing, Ethics and the Future of Health Care” conference.
A core of dedicated individuals – policy leaders, social workers, lawyers, nurses, doctors, administrators, religious leaders and more – have coalesced around the Network. In FY2011 they:
- Developed a website, with reviews of ethical issues, resources and education.
- Maintained an ongoing dialogue of Arizona-specific and national ethics topics through a group email dialog.
- Delivered an engaging and engrossing series of monthly EthicsTalk webinars on a variety of practical and theoretical issues that are routinely attended by about 50-75 professionals and practitioners.
- Convened “Ethics in Action in the Clinical Setting,” the network’s first annual conference that was attended by 150 professionals and practitioners.
The network’s growth is robust, and it makes sense. Balancing Act found a high level of moral distress in the workplace as a result of continual exposure to ethical dilemmas. Connection among peers provides a way to cope, to learn, and ultimately to make a difference. That’s what networks are all about.
