Sensemaking: Promoting shared understanding in times of moral ambiguity

Abstract: Although there is acknowledgment of the complex skills required to navigate ethical conflicts in clinical practice, ethics training is typically predicated on normative theory-based teaching strategies not predictive of future practice decisions. As American culture becomes increasingly polarized, normative approaches to ethical decision making are woefully inadequate in supporting clinicians and ethics consultants in navigating complex contemporary healthcare environments. In this session participants will be exposed to novel integrated communication and ethics (ICE) interventions, which bring together the sensemaking framework and bias mitigation techniques to close gaps in understanding between divergent stakeholders. ICE acknowledges the humanity of healthcare as well as the external pressures that often divert ethical response. Participants will review outcomes of two studies, one using innovative pedagogical methods grounded in sensemaking to enhance clinical ethics skills training; and a virtual immersion pilot study that explored connections between communication strategies and the physician’s ability to limit medically ineffective treatments. Both studies have been published and viewed at national and international conferences and continue to shape the future of clinical ethics training. The workshop will conclude with opportunities to apply and practice ICE interventions to actually ethics consults to optimize ethical response. By understanding what it means to be human, the importance of compassion, and how ingrained biases effect decision making, workshop participants will cultivate skills that translate into effective ethics consultation as well as opportunities to proactively educate clinical staff on ways that optimize ethical response at the bedside.

Keywords: Clinical Ethics, Sensemaking, Ethical Response