Ethics – A History of Ethics and Law in the Intensive Care Unit
Course Description:
This course is based upon material published in the journal Critical Care the Clinics and is available as an open access article on Wiley online library.
Abstract: Because they provide potential benefit at great personal and public cost, the intensive care unit (ICU) and the interventions rendered therein have become symbols of both the promise and the limitations of medical technology. At the same time, the ICU has served as an arena in which many of the ethical and legal dilemmas created by that technology have been defined and debated. In this essay, we outline major events in the history of ethics and law in the ICU. We cover 10 areas: 1) the evolution of ICUs, 2) ethical principles, 3) informed consent and the law, 4) medical decision-making, 5)cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 6) withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining therapy, 7) legal cases involving life support, 8) advance directives, 9) prognostication, and 10) futility and the allocation of medical resources. We emphasize that advancement of the ethical principle of respect for patient autonomy in ICUs increasingly is conflicting with physicians concern about their own prerogatives and with the just distribution of medical resources.
This course on the ethics and law in the intensive care unit is useful for nurses, but also for social workers, psychologists, professional counselors, and chemical dependency counselors who work with clients in hospital settings. This course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to increase their knowledge of ethics and law in intensive care units. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require ethics course credits and are interested in learning more about intensive care units, informed consent, advanced directives and medical decision making.
Authors: Luce and White
Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding ethics and law in intensive care units. Specifically, a professional will:
· Describe methods for medical decision making and advance directives
· Identify legal issues as they apply to informed consent
· Identify elements of the ethical principal of respect for patient autonomy
Citation: Luce and White. (2009). A history of ethics and law in the intensive care unit. Crit Care Clin. V 25 N 1 Reviewed by TM DiDona, PhD 2020 and found to be current. For a list of current references, please Click Here
This Ce-Classes.com course is approved for CE credit by:
- Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Ce-Classes.com, Provider #1142, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Ce-Classes.com maintains responsibility for this course. ASWB Approval Period: 1/5/2020-1/5/2023
- This course is NOT available for NBCC credit.
- The Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling Provider #852 BAP-Expires 3/31/2023
- The California Board of Behavioral Sciences. The California Board of Behavioral Sciences, BBS, recognizes relevant course work/training that has been approved by nationally recognized certifying bodies, such as APA, to satisfy renewal requirements.
- California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP) Provider Number OS-12-147-0221 Expires 2-2021
- The Texas Board of Social Work Examiners, Continuing Education Provider – 5674 expires 4/30/2021.
- The Texas Board of Professional Counselors, Continuing Education Provider
- Massachusetts Authorization Number: 1073
- Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board – Provider # RCST031201 Expires 5/31/2021
- New York Social Work Board – Ce-Classes.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0120.
- The Florida Board of Nursing (CE Provider #: 50-4896) Expires 10/31/2022 Do not send certificates to the Florida Board of Nursing. You must keep this certificate for 4 years.
- The California Board of Registered Nursing. CEP 15647 Expires 11/30/2022.
This course is Non Interactive .
