Ethics at the Bedside

Course Overview

Clinical ethics can be defined simply as the applied practice of ethical decision-making in the clinical setting. This Course will outline the fundamental clinical ethics components commonly present in contemporary healthcare, most relevant to nurses.

Topics

• Common sources of conflict in clinical ethics
• Are nursing ethics different to medical ethics?
• How can an ethics workup help during an ethical dilemma?

Need

All of us who work in healthcare will be confronted by a wide range of ethical dilemmas during the course of our day-to-day work. There is a need to make rapid decisions, yet this can be complicated by high workloads, complex systems and human factors.

There is an ever-present need to access education that supports clinicians to build ethical competence and advocacy skills in order to not only participate in clinical ethics decision-making, but also to confidently initiate clinical ethics processes when necessary.

Purpose

The purpose of this Course is to empower the clinical nurse to actively contribute to ethical decision-making in all healthcare settings.

Learning Outcomes

• Use knowledge of the origins and principles of the clinical ethics model to confidently perform your unique role as a clinical nurse in the ethical decision-making process
• Recognise and navigate common sources of ethical conflict in healthcare settings to promote best outcomes for patients
• Encourage patient participation in clinical ethics decision-making as necessary, by applying clinical ethics competence awareness and advocacy skills

Target Audience

This Course is designed for all clinical nurses working in any hospital or community setting.

Disclosure

No conflict of interest exists for anyone in the position to control content for this activity. Wherever possible, generic or non-proprietary names of medications or products have been used.

Educator

Sarah Breier

Sarah Breier commenced her education in the health professions in 1986 at the Launceston General Hospital, Department of Nursing Education, Tasmania that has since encompassed numerous formal qualifications culminating in a PhD in Bioethics from the University of Tasmania, School of Medicine, and a Fellowship in Ethics and Professionalism at the Medical College of Wisconsin, USA. She has practiced in various clinical and academic settings including emergency room, home health, rural and remote, critical care, and med/surg nursing. Sarah maintains an adjunct appointment as Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Center for Health Ethics, is contributing faculty in Leadership and Management at Walden University-College of Health Science, is a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, and currently teaches health law and ethics within the Health, Aged and Disability Program at TasTafe, Launceston. Sarah is passionate about raising awareness of clinical ethics processes, patient advocacy, and the burgeoning field of digital education and tele-health practices, mentoring and preceptorship. See Educator Profile