Addressing Ethical Dilemmas

Beginning with an overview of ethical principles, this module focuses on ethical elements in managerial dilemmas.  Participants will learn about ethical issues that arise both in the delivery of care to hospice patients and families and in hospice management, as well as processes and methods for addressing ethical challenges that arise in end-of-life care settings.

Participants will engage in an “on-line” ethics discussion group with case studies to work toward issue resolution.  Knowing how to address ethical dilemmas and creating workable solutions will become new knowledge sets for the hospice manager who participates in this online module.

After completing this module, participants will be able to:

• • • Identify general principles and standards of ethics;
    • Identify the process for isolating an ethical dilemma;
    • Identify two common ethical issues in end-of-life care;
    • Define “promise keeping” and explain its relevance to business ethics;
    • List two critical “hot topics” and develop a plan to identify and address the ethical considerations;
    • List 3 available resources to help resolve ethical dilemmas

The module will be instructor-facilitated and is conducted online over a period of four weeks. During this time you will read online articles, complete assignments, develop solutions to case studies, and take part in ongoing online discussions.  You can expect to spend 2 – 4 hours per week in these activities.

Participants will determine their own schedules for completing the course work; online learning does not require that you be in a classroom at a set time, which is a perfect arrangement for busy hospice managers! Completion of the module does require, however, that you participate in weekly assignments and post them by designated dates.

Patricia A. Goodwin, ACSW, LCSW, ACHP-SW.

Patricia Goodwin has over 30 years of experience as a social worker in the health care field, including hospitals, long term care facilities, home health and hospice.  She has provided direct service, supervised other social workers, coached the interdisciplinary team in assessment and problem solving, and has experience in promoting patient/family satisfaction through her positions as a patient representative and service improvement project manager.

As an advocate for ongoing education, Pat served for three years on the Florida Hospice and Palliative Care Association’s annual forum planning committee and is a member of NHPCO’s Professional Education Committee. While co-chairing a hospital ethics committee, she received extensive training in clinical ethics through the University of Pittsburgh Consortium Ethics Program; she recently participated in leadership training through the Disney Institute.  Her social work degrees are from the University of Michigan.

Pat has a special interest in the psychosocial/spiritual dimensions of end of life care, clinical and organizational ethics and leadership development. In addition to talking to community groups on end of life topics, she has given professional presentations and workshops at the local and state level as well as nationally for NHPCO.

Pat recently relocated to Tallahassee, Florida, to be near family and joyfully participate in the care of her young granddaughter

Please note: if you have taken prior online MDP courses, the course completion requirements have changed. For successful completion of the module,  all participants must now complete all forums with a minimum grade for each forum of 80% or higher.  In addition, all participants must complete the Course Assessment (exam) with a minimum passing grade of 80% and complete the course evaluation.  A Certificate of Course Completion towards the Level II Designation of the Hospice Manager Development Program is then awarded along with CEs for nurses who have requested this in advance.  If you have any questions, please contact the course faculty for clarification.

Continuing education credit is available for nurses who complete this module and pay required fees (see Module Fees) for continuing education.

Nurse: NHPCO is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. NHPCO designates this activity for a maximum of 8 contact hours.  Nurses should claim only the contact hours commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Accredited status by ANCC refers only to continuing nursing education and does not imply endorsement of any commercial product discussed in conjunction with this activity.

The module fee is $95 for members and $190 for non-members. There is an additional $25 fee for nurses requesting continuing education contact hours. Note: If you are requesting continuing education, the $25 fee must be paid during registration ($95 + $25).

Please note: Due to administrative constraints, if you are registering less than 2 business days prior to the module start date, there is a late fee of $25. Late registrations are processed only over the phone; call NHPCO’s Solutions Center at 800/646-6460. Please have credit card information ready for phone registrations.

All cancellation requests must be submitted in writing to conferences@nhpco.org. A $25 processing fee will apply to all cancellations. Cancellations made on the day the module starts or afterward are not eligible for a refund.