Hamilton Health Sciences’ (HHS) Office of Ethics, in partnership with the Regional Ethics Network, is offering an online learning opportunity for leaders, staff and physicians who have expressed interest in becoming ethics champions/consultants within their organizations. Below is an outline of the role/scope of an ethics consultant/champion, course objectives and expectations. Questions can be directed to officeofethics@hhsc.ca.
WHAT IS AN ETHICS CHAMPION/CONSULTANT?
- Are you naturally curious about healthcare ethics and do you have a desire to learn skills to sharpen your ethical analysis skills? Talk to your manager/leader and the ethics committee chair/lead in your organization to ensure you have their support to participate in a tailored training program and to function as an ethics champion/consultant.
- Create space in your work week to participate in the course modules and community of practice (see course details below).
- Must be registered through your ethics lead; HHS Office of Ethics must have complete participant list by September 29, 2023
- Once your participation is confirmed you will be sent the meeting invitations for whole course.
HEALTHCARE ETHICS BASICS: AN INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL THEORY AND ANALYSIS FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, LEADERS AND PHYSICIANS
WHAT ARE THE COURSE OBJECTIVES?
This course is intended for working health professionals/leaders/physicians who want to strengthen their capacity to act as ethics champions, as well as those intending to become ethics consultants within their organizations. The course is offered by the HHS Office of Ethics and provides baseline education about ethical concepts and theories as they apply to healthcare. By the conclusion of this course participants will have sharpened their skills in case analysis and be ready to integrate this knowledge into the practice of ethics committee work. For those who complete this course and plan to become ethics consultants, a practical skills course (“Ethics Consultation Basics”) will be offered in the new year (JanMar 2024) to develop specific competencies of an ethics consultant.
This course has three components:
- Weekly asynchronous on-line modules
- Weekly community of practice meetings to apply the concepts of the course to cases
- A culminating assignment that involves writing a brief analysis of an ethics case using a standard ethical framework
At the end of the Healthcare Ethics Basics course, you will be able to:
- Function as an ethics committee member and ethics champion in your organization
- Understand the role of ethics and ethics consultation in healthcare
- Apply ethical concepts and theories to healthcare issues
- Address ethical dilemmas/issues using tools and skills learned in this program
- Provide appropriate resources to your colleagues/teams when they encounter ethical issues
- Learn how to analyze ethical dilemmas using an ethics framework
- Explore how professional ethics and organizational ethics influence decision-making in healthcare and social services
- Examine the interactions between how ethics, risk management and legislation in healthcare and social services settings
- Improve communication and conflict resolution skills
WHAT ARE THE PARTICIPANT EXPECTATIONS?
- Secure support from your manager/leader to participate in the course
- Attend course orientation (on Zoom): 90 minutes: Tuesday, October 10, 11am-12:30pm
- Complete the assigned asynchronous module weekly (60-90 minutes); must complete all modules by December 21, 2023
- Attend one virtual community of practice session weekly (60 minutes); either Tuesdays 11am-noon OR Thursdays 3:30-4:30pm (October 16-December 21, 2023); at least 7 of 10 weekly sessions o Total time commitment: approximately 2.5 hours/week or 25-30 hours for the course
- Complete a written assigned case analysis using an ethical framework (3-4 pages): Deadline January 15, 2023; feedback will be provided by the Ethics team from Hamilton Health Sciences