Strategies for Ethics Education with Health Profession Students Before, During, and After Placements

Abstract

Health professionals must practice ethically in order to ensure compassionate and effective client care; function as good interdisciplinary team members; and protect themselves from litigation, and conduct and ethics complaints. Ethics education is a routine inclusion in health profession degrees, but may only be taught in the classroom, divorced from practice. This article argues that students need ethics education before, during, and after practice placements. We suggest that many powerful opportunities for teaching ethics on and after placements are missed or underutilised. We have reviewed the scant evidence, and the literature more broadly, to identify strategies for teaching ethics before, during, and after placements; and have added strategies drawn from our own experiences as clinical educators. We highlight where interdisciplinary perspectives can be added to ethics education. We conclude that more research is needed into approaches and strategies for teaching ethics in different contexts.

Eğitimde Etik Konular

“…Bu tür yaklaşımlar, kritik olayları çözmeye daha az odaklanırken, bir düşünme ve davranış biçimi olarak etik değerleri, ilkeleri ve görevleri korumaya daha fazla odaklanır. Pollard et al (2018) tarafından yapılan yakın tarihli bir inceleme, eğitimcilerin ve öğrencilerin mesleki uygulamaları sırasında etiğe odaklanarak akademik ve uygulama ortamları arasındaki boşluğu doldurabileceğini göstermiştir. Pollard ve meslektaşları, etik eğitimi için karşılanmamış bir fırsatı tanımlayarak, denetleyici etkileşimler sırasında etiğin nadiren tartışıldığını bulmuşlardır.…”

Ethics Education Learning Outcomes for Health Professions Students

“…A recent review by Pollard et al (2018) showed educators may bridge the gap between academic and practice settings by focussing on ethics during students' professional practica. All health professions students participate in external practica where they apply theoretical knowledge in practice settings; a learning context well suited to fostering ethical sensitivity and reasoning skills.…”

Ethics in Professional Practice: An Education Resource for Health Science Students

“…Current best practice in ethics education draws upon experiential learning approaches, including problem-, case-and reflective practice-based curricula (Donaldson, Fistein, andDunn 2010, Numminen, van der Arend, andLeino-Kilpi 2009). Recent innovations include flipped classroom activities, simulation and audience response systems (Pollard et al 2018). Quality ethics learning outcomes may be facilitated by implementation of empirically based ethics cases (Bushby et al 2015), with a case mix that addresses critical incidents and ethics in 'every day' professional practice (Liaschenko, Oguz, and Brunnquell 2006).…”

“…A recent review by Pollard et al (2018) identified a significant gap in ethics education for the health professions, namely, opportunities for integrating ethical theory and practice during professional placements. The authors suggested students' ethical reasoning skills may benefit from case-based, interactive learning experiences before professional placements followed by opportunities for critical ethical reflection following placements (Boud, Keough, andWalker 1985, Dunn andMusolino 2011).…”

“…We know health profession students experience ethical dilemmas that may lead to uncertainty, conflict and distress during clinical placements (Bourne et al 2013, Kinsella et al 2008). Yet, ethics education is frequently overlooked during supervisory interactions as clinical educators and students focus upon the acquisition of discipline-specific occupational competencies (Pollard et al 2018). Indeed, an assumption that students are equipped with adequate ethical reasoning skills may only be challenged if students breach workplace codes of conduct or their profession's code of ethics.…”