MH6099 prepares students to think critically about the ethical, professional and legal issues and challenges that arise in relation to death and dying in hospital and healthcare settings. It describes a range of different approaches to moral challenges (e.g. respecting patient autonomy, breaking bad news) and distinguishes between ethics and other perspectives such as religion and the law.

 

The module is primarily intended for health professionals (e.g. registered nurses, doctors, pharmacists, therapists); allied professionals (e.g. hospital and nursing home administrators, social workers, chaplains); solicitors and theologians and members of the general public with a keen interest in the subject area.

 

The module explains the defining features of traditional and contemporary ethical theories – utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, principlism – and the application of ethical theory to end-of-life situations in healthcare practice. It considers what it means to ‘do the right thing’ and be a certain kind of person.

 

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

• Explain major ethical theories and moral concepts.
• Identify the ethically and legally salient features of clinical scenarios drawn from practice.
• Evaluate the role of healthcare ethics in clinical practice.
• Distinguish between theoretical and empirical approaches to healthcare ethics.
• Consider their own values in relation to the values of others and to the literature discussed on the course.
• Analyse arguments and identify assumptions and common mistakes in reasoning.
• Identify and discuss moral considerations encountered in clinical practice.