UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
HLTH 241: ETHICAL ASPECTS OF HEALTH CARE
WINTER 2014
Course description and credit hours
Study of basic ethical thought and principles and their application to selected contemporary issues in healthcare. This is a three credit course.
Enrollment and prerequisites
The course is for students from all majors, and is ideal for future health care practitioners, policy makers, and health care consumers. There are no prerequisites.
Faculty
Dr. CaroleePolek, School of Nursing
Dr. William Rose, Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology
Required Text
Purtilo, R.B. & Doherty, R.F. (2011). Ethical dimensions in the health professions (5thed.) Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders.
ADA Statement
Students with disabilities should contact the University of Delaware’s Office of Disability Support Servicesfor information regarding possible accommodations. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Office of DSS.
Learning objectives and outcomes
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
1)Identify and understand basic ethical terms, theories, and principles;
2)Apply ethical terms, theories, and principles to health care case studies;
3)Compare and contrast ethical and moral dimensions of selected issues in health care;
4)Analyze effectiveness of ethical reasoning on selected issues in health care;
5)Analyze and write cogently about the ethical aspects of selected issues in health care.
Outline of course topics
- Morality and Ethics: Definitions and Why They Matter
- Prototypes of Ethical Problems
Who Should Survive? (video)
Please Let Me Die (video)
Dax’s Case (video)
- Ethical Theories and Approaches
A. Metaethics
B. Normative Ethics
C. Virtue Theory
D. Guiding Principles
1. Non-maleficence and Beneficence
2. Autonomy
3. Fidelity
4. Veracity
5. Justice
E. Deontological Theory
F. Teleological Theory
- Six-Step Process of Ethical Decision Making
- Living Ethically on Health Care Teams and Within Health Care Organizations
- Confidentiality and Truth Telling
- Informed Consent
- Ethics of Chronic and Long Term Care and End of Life Care
- Distributive Justice and Compensatory Justice
- Ethical Citizenship and Case Studies in Ethical Aspects of Health Care
Format
The course uses lecture, discussion, problem-based learning, and a six-step process to teach students how to make ethical decisions about health care issues. The six steps are:[1]
1)Collectrelevant information;
2)Identify ethical problems and issues;
3)Analyze problems and issues using ethical principles and guidelines;
4)Explore the practical alternatives;
5)Act;
6)Evaluatethe process and the (probable) outcome.
Evaluation
Paper analyzing an ethical case study (3 pages; with peer review)12%
Midterm25%
Position paper (with peer comment)15%
Class participation 18%
Comprehensive final30%
100%
Academic Integrity
Academic honesty and integrity lie at the heart of the educational enterprise. Academic dishonesty in any form (e.g. plagiarism or cheating on assignments or exams) is not tolerated. It is the duty of students to understand what plagiarism is and to avoid it. Students should do their own work and neither give nor receive assistance for assignments or papers. Possible penalties for violations include reduction in course grade or failure.
Please ask the faculty if you have questions about instructor expectations.
Additional sources of informationabout academic integrity are the following:
Student Guide to University Policies: The official guide to policies.
Academic Honesty and Dishonesty defined in the Student Guide.
Office of Student Conduct: Procedures, expectations, definitions, etc.
Forms of Academic Integrity Misconduct defined by the Office of Student Conduct.
[1]PurtiloDoherty, Ethical Dimensions in the Health Professions, 5th ed., Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders, 2011.