Healthcare Ethics & Informed Consent

Bioethical principles applied to clinical practice. Covers informed consent, advance directives, conflicts of interest, end-of-life care, confidentiality, resource allocation and triage, and professional boundaries.

8 Units

20 minutes per unit

Curriculum Map

What You Will Learn

Informed Consent

Elements, capacity assessment, exceptions, documentation standards, and the evolving regulatory requirements across states.

End-of-Life Ethics

Withdrawing vs. withholding treatment, palliative sedation, physician-assisted death laws, and futility determinations.

Conflicts & Boundaries

Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute, pharmaceutical relationships, professional boundary violations, and state board enforcement.

All Units

20 minutes

The Four Pillars: Bioethical Principles in Clinical Practice

Examines the four foundational principles of biomedical ethics and their application to clinical practice, including resolution of ethical conflicts.

•Identify the four foundational bioethical principles and their philosophical origins
•Apply autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice to clinical decision-making scenarios
•Recognize when principles conflict and how to navigate ethical tensions in patient care

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20 minutes

Informed Consent: Legal Requirements and Clinical Reality

Examines informed consent requirements, capacity assessment, exceptions, and documentation standards under federal and state law.

•Identify the three essential elements of legally valid informed consent and their regulatory basis
•Assess decision-making capacity using standardized criteria and documentation standards
•Recognize exceptions to informed consent requirements and when each exception applies

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20 minutes

Refusal of Treatment and Advance Directives

Examines the legal framework for treatment refusal, advance care planning, and surrogate decision-making including DNR/DNI orders and POLST.

•Distinguish between competent refusal, surrogate decision-making, and advance directive authority
•Apply legal standards for DNR/DNI orders and POLST forms in clinical practice
•Identify when court intervention is required and when clinicians may proceed with treatment decisions

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20 minutes

Conflicts of Interest: From Pharmaceutical Relationships to Self-Referral

Examines conflicts of interest in healthcare, including pharmaceutical relationships, self-referral, Stark Law, and Anti-Kickback Statute compliance.

•Identify financial relationships that constitute conflicts of interest under federal and state law
•Distinguish permissible from prohibited arrangements under the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute
•Apply disclosure and management strategies to mitigate conflicts in clinical practice

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20 minutes

End-of-Life Care Ethics: From Withholding Treatment to Medical Aid in Dying

Examines end-of-life care ethics including withholding vs. withdrawing treatment, palliative sedation, medical aid in dying, and futility determinations.

•Distinguish between withholding and withdrawing treatment, and between terminal sedation and euthanasia
•Apply the legal and ethical framework for medical aid in dying in jurisdictions where authorized
•Identify when life-sustaining treatment may be characterized as medically inappropriate or futile

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20 minutes

Confidentiality and Privacy: HIPAA, Mandatory Reporting, and Ethical Boundaries

Examines confidentiality and privacy requirements under HIPAA, mandatory reporting laws, and ethical duties in complex scenarios involving minors and incapacitated adults.

•Apply HIPAA Privacy Rule requirements to disclosure scenarios including treatment, payment, and operations
•Identify mandatory reporting obligations that override confidentiality protections
•Navigate confidentiality issues involving minors, incapacitated adults, and competing ethical duties

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20 minutes

Resource Allocation and Triage: Ethics of Scarcity in Healthcare

Examines ethical frameworks for resource allocation, triage protocols for mass casualty and pandemic events, and fairness principles in rationing decisions.

•Apply ethical frameworks for allocating scarce medical resources including utilitarian, egalitarian, and prioritarian approaches
•Implement triage protocols for mass casualty events and pandemic response using established guidelines
•Identify obligations and constraints when clinicians must make allocation decisions under resource scarcity

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20 minutes

Professional Boundaries and Sexual Misconduct: Ethics, Law, and Enforcement

Examines professional boundaries, dual relationships, sexual misconduct, patient vulnerability, and state board enforcement of boundary violations.

•Distinguish between boundary crossings and boundary violations in the patient-provider relationship
•Identify prohibited sexual conduct under state medical board regulations and criminal statutes
•Apply risk management strategies to prevent boundary violations and respond appropriately when they occur

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