ABSTRACT
Moral values are involved in every clinical encounter. The moral values of the patient and individual family members are primary, but those of the physicians and other members of the clinical care teams are also influential. In addition to the moral component, clinical encounters are influenced by professional duties and standards, health system structure, and social norms. Ethical concerns arise when there are conflicts between obligations, values, and duties. Clinical ethics is a means to explicate those conflicts and seek the most ethically justifiable resolution. This chapter will focus on practical consideration of ethical concerns that can be anticipated when very young children are very sick.
