Not in isolation: how history can inform the debate on professionalization.

As ethics services have become more integrated into healthcare organizations, the controversy regarding the possible professionalization of healthcare ethics practices has re-emerged. Some of the debate focuses on whether healthcare ethics practice possesses the attributes of a 'true profession.' This study examines the history of the professions and the relevance of this historical material, as well as sociological insights, for contemporary concerns. It explores whether the mismatch between traditional models of professional knowledge and the knowledge foundation for healthcare ethics is at the core of these concerns. It also takes the position that given the role healthcare ethics plays in assisting patients, families, healthcare providers, and others with complex moral decisions it is important to work towards developing standards that can be used to guide and evaluate the work.