Dr. Swota works primarily with inpatient cases. She provides formal and informal ethics consultations, moral distress debriefings on difficult cases, organizational ethics consultations, education for multidisciplinary healthcare professionals in addition to medical and nursing residents, and assists in creating and revising policies across the healthcare system. Dr. Swota provides interactive presentations across the system on topics ranging from the role culture can play in the healthcare setting to ethical issues in caring for neonates with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome.

She also facilitates a monthly forum known as BioPit (Bioethics Performance Improvement Team), in which ethical issues in recent cases are identified, explored, and addressed in a multidisciplinary setting. The driving philosophy behind BioPit is the recognition that the ethical issues inherent in the practice of healthcare warrant explicit discussion and benefit from a diverse group of professionals sharing insights and asking questions. Since 2020, she has been a core member of the Moral Distress Consultation Collaborative at the University of Virgina Center for Health Humanities and Ethics, which provides an inter-institutional support structure that enables consultants to collaborate and impact ethical decisions in healthcare through dissemination of best practices and engagement in clinical, professional and organizational ethics research.

As co-chair of the pediatric hospital’s multidisciplinary ethics committee, Dr. Swota partners with committee members to offer ethics education, review cases, and identify ethics policy needs in the hospital. A published author whose essays have appeared in several scholarly journals and anthologies, Dr. Swota authored a book focused on traversing the difficult terrain of advance care planning discussions in a multicultural environment, offering insights that directly address the process of discussing end-of-life issues with patients and families. She has lectured throughout the United States and Canada. For the past 17 years and in partnership with Florida Bioethics Network, Dr. Swota has organized Wolfson Children’s annual Pediatric Bioethics Conference, which draws healthcare practitioners and public policy experts from around the world and serves as fertile ground for the development and education of best practices in pediatric bioethics. In 2024, the conference had over 700 registrants.

Notable achievements:

Co-founder of one of the largest annual Pediatric Bioethics Conferences in the nation; Florida Bioethics Network Board Member; Schwartz Center National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year nominee; author of “Culture, Ethics, and Advance Care Planning” (Lexington Books, 2009); 2014 Leadership Jacksonville graduate; formerly associate professor of philosophy at the University of North Florida; formerly co-director of the Florida Blue Center for Ethics at the University of North Florida; Core group member of the Moral Distress Consultation Collaborative at the University of Virgina Center for Health Humanities and Ethics; Courtesy Assistant Professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine Jacksonville, Department of Pediatrics.

Dr. Audrey Evans inspires me because she was was the paradigmatic example of someone who has magnificent communication skills and was the consummate “connector,” establishing deep, strong relationships with her patients and their families. While the role of the bioethicist is multifaceted, like Dr. Evans, I strive to facilitate clear communication, help patients and families identify and articulate their values and preferences, and empower the various stakeholders in a case to feel comfortable offering their insights as we work together to provide exquisite care. Dr. Evans’ “total care” philosophy strikes at the heart of what I try and do every day- gain understanding and appreciation of the patient and family story and understand the children we care for in the context of the beautiful, complex lives. Dr. Evans notes that she constantly looked for ways to make life better for all of us. Her altruism and selflessness are inspiring. A good day at work for me is when I can reflect on what I have done and think that I have had even a small, positive impact on someone. Some of the best days at work for me are when I have been able to work with my colleagues in enabling the parents of sick children to see that they are good parents.

I want my legacy to be: I’d loved to be remembered as someone who was driven by the desire to help patients, families, and healthcare providers identify and articulate their values when faced with profoundly difficult decisions, working to ensure that these values guide the treatment provided to the children for whom we care.

I also want to be known as someone who is constantly working to cultivate a culture of understanding, inquisitiveness, and compassion where all team members feel empowered to ask tough questions, raise difficult issues, and help one another in the exquisitely challenging work we do every day caring for patients and families.

Even after more than a quarter of a century in this extremely hard but immensely rewarding work, I’m keenly aware that I have much to learn. It is a privilege to walk into someone else’s story, and as I continue in my work as a bioethicist, I have come to see that that is what I do every day- walk into the stories of others. My approach has always been to walk in with authenticity and humility, with the hope that I can help weave together the different stories in a way that enables us to provide magnificent care to the whole patient and their family during what is often one of the most difficult times in their lives.