HEALTH ETHICS RESOURCES
CLINICAL ETHICS

Clinical Ethics focuses on ethics in the direct delivery of health care. The following are commonly considered:

• Ethics Theories: Virtue Ethics; Relational Ethics; Consequentalism; Utilitarianism; Deontology.
• Bioethics Principles: Autonomy; Beneficence (doing good); Non-maleficence (avoiding harm); Justice.
• Moral Rules: Veracity (truth); Fidelity (faithfulness/loyalty); Privacy; Confidentiality.

Clinical issues or cases are ethically charged when they involve value conflicts and/or the decisions made have the potential for significant ethical implications. Ethical Frameworks are often used to guide clinical decision-making. 

One well-known framework is the Four-Topics Method by Jonsen, Siegler and Winslade (first published in 1998).  In the actual framework, each quadrant contains a series of questions to guide ethical reflection and decision-making.

Source for the full Four-Topics Method Framework and its description:
Jonsen AR, Siegler M, Winslade WJ.  Clinical ethics: A practical approach to ethical decisions in clinical medicine.  Chicago: McGraw-Hill; 6th Edition: 2006.  Holdings: Neil John McLean and SOGH libraries: Call number WB60 J81c6 2006.  Also online via Access Medicine.

To read more about bioethics principles:
Beauchamp TL and Childress JF. Principles of biomedical ethics. New York: Oxford University Press; 6th Edition: 2009.
Holdings: Neil John McLean and SOGH libraries - Call number: w 50 B372p6 2009.

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INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE?

Level I Health Ethics Workshop
The Level I Health Ethics Workshop is an interactive two-day workshop designed for staff interested in the integration of ethics into clinical practice. This workshop meets the pre-requisite for the Level II: Ethics Resource Workshop.

Level II: Ethics Resource Workshop
The Level II: Ethics Resource Workshop is an interactive two-day workshop for experienced health care providers willing to develop skills to assist their colleagues as peer resources when ethical issues or questions arise. Prerequisite: completion of introductory ethics coursework (e.g. The Level I Health Ethics Workshop, or a similar non-credit or credit course relevant to health ethics).

Visit the Education page or Contact Us for information about upcoming sessions.