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Health Care Ethics USA
In this column I want to provide information about two exciting education opportunities that our Center has developed. First, we have established a partnership with DIA Learning in St. Louis to develop an interactive series of web based ethics education programs for health professionals, such as for ethics committee personnel. We have developed a special focus in the programs for Catholic health care. There will be 13 programs in the series, each running for 15 hours, including video narrative and commentary with interactive electronic readings and quizzes, and providing continuing education units. The first program is already available, "Persistent Vegetative State: To Live or Let Die": it features the well know case of Terri Schiavo to discuss treatment and care for patients in a persistent vegetative state, especially in light of JCAHO's standards. This program will be especially helpful for ethics education around the neuralgic ethical problem of withholding or withdrawing medical treatment in end-of-life care of patients. The second program is also available, "A National Emergency: Patient Safety": it features the renowned Institute of Medicine report on the large number of patients who die annually in US hospitals because of medical error and also JCAHO's standards on patient safety. This program will be especially helpful for ethics education on reducing medical error and enhancing patient safety in our health care settings. For further information about these exciting, interactive ethics education programs, please contact this website: www.dialearning.com. Second, we have opened a new 9-credit Graduate Certificate Program in Clinical Health Care Ethics, beginning in August 2005, sponsored by the Center for Health Care Ethics at Saint Louis University. The Certificate Program serves hospital personnel and others engaged in health care. Its primary objective is to foster clinical ethics skills and knowledge (especially via case studies) needed by ethics committee-members, physicians, nurses, administrators, attorneys, social workers, chaplains, and others in healthcare. Participants can pursue an optional concentration in the Catholic tradition. To accommodate health professionals working full-time, the Program combines an extensive distance-learning component over a one year period, with two 2-3 day on-site seminars. Continuing education credits/units are available. The courses and learning objectives in the Graduate Certificate Program include:
For further information and application materials for the Graduate Certificate Program in Clinical Health Care Ethics, please contact the Program Coordinator at chcecert@slu.edu, or the website at, http://chce.slu.edu/clinical_certificate.html or, tel. (314) 977-6661. As usual, this issue of Health Care Ethics USA has three essays. The first essay is by Jan C. Heller, PhD, who is the System Director of Ethics and Theology at Providence Health System. His essay on “Demystifying Ministry Leadership Formation” discusses how ministry leadership formation for Catholic health care is a concept whose time has come. The second essay is by Scott Kashman MHA, FACHE, who is the Director of the Ambulatory & Emergency Care Center at Saint Mary’s Medical Center, Saginaw, Michigan. His essay on “Leadership Communication” discusses how to build a stronger culture of trust and results through business ethics, referring to an IRB-approved research study. The final essay is by Ann Suziedelis, PhD, a recent graduate of our PhD program, who is the Director of Mission Services at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital, Pontiac, Michigan. Her essay offers a refreshing look at the old chestnut of informed consent, presenting a cautionary tale. I hope you enjoy the essays and I look forward to receiving suggestions for topics that we might address in future issues. Professor Gerard Magill, PhD |
From the Director... |
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