ETHICS 2D - ADVANCE DIRECTIVES: ASSISTING WITH PLANS FOR END OF LIFE CARE

Course overview

This 2-credit hour ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES course is a PDF document accessed FREE OF CHARGE through a publicly accessible internet link to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) website. This course - Advance Directives: Assisting with Plans for End of Life Care - awards 2 ETHICS credits. The course is separately approved in the 'General' category as a COUNSELING INTERVENTION COURSE. The material is applicable for those who work with the elderly and all ages of seriously ill individuals and their families (e.g., renal failure, CHF, burn units, cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's, strokes, etc.) ... AND with HEALTHY individuals who might need to make End of Life decisions (perhaps due to work in life-threatening situations including MILITARY deployment to war zones or for other reasons). The AHRQ is an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services. This free internet-accessible publication is authored by Barbara L. Kass-Bartelmes, M.P.H., C.H.E.S., and Ronda Hughes, Ph.D.. How is this course different from many of our courses at CEU By Net? You can read and print this course material and the quiz for FREE before deciding if you want to enroll in the course. Pay only to take the quiz ONLINE and then instantly receive your course completion certificate. The AHRQ includes this document in its search list of publications which deal with the ETHICS of healthcare. CEU By Net has included this material in our ETHICS section because helping patients and families to make choices regarding END OF LIFE CARE is a potentially vulnerable area of PROFESSIONAL ETHICALITY. Such activity falls within the area of Professional Ethics generally referred to as CLIENT WELFARE .... including the elements of 'Acting in the Best Interest of the Client' and 'Informed Consent'. These activities also involve PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES, in terms of differentiating between our desires for a client at the end of life, and the client's own preferences. Materials such as this study published by the AHRQ also serve to enhance and support Professional Competence and SCOPE OF PRACTICE, for those who have responsibilities involving Advance Directives. The information contained herein serves as a ‘KNOWLEDGE FRAMEWORK’ for behavioral health practitioners in the area of assisting their clients/patients with ADVANCE DIRECTIVES or LIVING WILLS. Such research-based knowledge is important to ensure that we understand ETHICALLY APPROPRIATE ways to assist clients and family members or representatives with this important activity. Such knowledge also helps to protect practitioners from being the focus of disciplinary action and legal complications. GOALS OF THIS COURSE: 1. Learn terms that should be understood related to individuals' LEGAL RIGHT to make End of Life Care Decisions. 2. Awareness of the research-verified need for more effective Advance Directives (end of life care planning), and differentiation between the categories of individuals for whom Advance Directives are an issue. 3. Understanding of the BENEFITS of addressing end of life preferences with persons who are terminally ill or are in a life threatening situation, as well as with their surrogates (family or representatives). 4. Learn a five-part, research-supported PROCESS for structuring discussions about end-of-life preferences, which inherently supports our ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY for assuring the welfare and legal rights of the client. 5. Understand the FACTORS which typically affect individuals' choices about End of Life Care in various situations.