| UNIT TITLE |
Law and Ethics in Health |
| UNIT CODE |
NCS3203 |
| CREDIT POINTS |
15 |
| FULL YEAR UNIT |
No |
| MODE OF DELIVERY |
On-campus
Online
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DESCRIPTION
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The aim of the unit is to provide students with an understanding of ethics and law related to practice within a healthcare setting. This unit examines issues which may generate ethical and legal challenges for health care professionals and provide the tools to discuss and debate these challenging issues. The content will include an examination of current Australian law pertaining to healthcare as well as ethical theories, principles and doctrines that aid in decision making processes.
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| LEARNING OUTCOMES |
On completion of this unit students should be able to:
- analyse and communicate the influence of personal and professional ethics on planning, organising, problem solving, and decision making in the health care setting;
- analyse ethical issues and apply ethical theories, principles and concepts to health care across the lifespan and cross-cultural perspectives;
- consider conditions in health care which impede ethically sensitive practice;
- differentiate between the differences and similarities of common and statute law as they relate to the provision of health care;
- relate health professionals' responsibilities to such matters as negligence and consent.
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| UNIT CONTENT |
- Values and ethical descision making process.
- Ethical theories, models, principles and codes as frameworks to assist in the assessment and resolution of professional ethical dilemmas across the lifespan and cross-cultural perspectives.
- Professional practice and ethical action: balancing philosophical, legal, professional, societal, personal, material, financial and institutional considerations.
- Introduction to the concept of law.
- Implications of tort law including negligence, vicarious liability, consent and assault/battery for health professionals.
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| TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESSES |
| Lectures, seminars and e-learning. |
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| GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES |
The following graduate attributes will be developed in this unit:
- Ability to communicate
- Critical appraisal skills
- Ability to generate ideas
- Cross-cultural and international outlook
- Ability to work in teams
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| ASSESSMENT |
| Grading Schema 1 |
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| Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners. |
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Item
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On-Campus Assessment
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Value
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Case Study
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Group case study
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40%
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Examination
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End of semester examination (open book)
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60%
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Item
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Online Assessment
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Value
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Case Study
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Group case study
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40%
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Examination
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End of semester examination (open book)
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60%
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| TEXTS |
| Atkins, K., Britton, B. & de Lacey, S. (2009). Ethics and law for Australian Nurses. Sydney: Cambrideg University Press. |
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| SIGNIFICANT REFERENCES |
| Balkin, R., & Davis, J. (2004). Law of torts. (3rd ed.). Sydney: Butterworths. |
| Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2001). Principles of biomedical ethics. (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. |
| DeWolf Bosek, M., & Savage T. (2007). The ethical component of nursing education; Integrating ethics into clinical experience. Sydney: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. |
| Kerridge, I., Lowe, M. & Stewart, C. (2009). Ethics and Law for the heah professions. (3rd ed.). Sydney: Federation Press. |
| Johnstone, M. (2004). Bioethics: A nursing perspective. (4th ed.). Sydney: Harcourt. |
| Mappes, T. (2006). Biomedical ethics. (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. |
| McCloskey, J., & Grace, H. (Eds). (2001). Current issues in nursing. (6th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby. |
| Savage, P. (2007). Legal issues for nursing students; Applied principles. NSW: Prentice Hall. |
| Staunton, P., & Chiarella, M. (2004). Nursing and the law. (5th ed.). Marrickville, NSW: Elsevier. |
| Thompson, I., Melia, K., & Boyd, K. (2006). Nursing ethics. (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. |
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| JOURNALS |
| Australian Law Journal |
| Hastings Centre Report |
| Journal of Clinical Ethics |
| Journal of Law and Medicine |
| Journal of Medical Ethics |
| Journal of Midwifery |
| Journal of Professional Nursing |
| Monash Bioethics Review |
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| WEB SITES |
| Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia http://www.anc.org.au |
| Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia http://www.anc.org.au/codeofconduct.htm |
| Management of patient information and documentation guidelines http://www.nbwa.org.au |
| Nurses Board of Western Australia Nurse's Code of Practice http://www.nbwa.org.au |
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| Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005) | |
| For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Student Equity, Diversity and Disability Service website: |
| http://intranet.ecu.edu.au/student/support/student-equity |
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Academic Misconduct
Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:
- plagiarism;
- unauthorised collaboration;
- cheating in examinations;
- theft of other students’ work.
Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.
The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.
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