704: Ethics and Medical Errors

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

Learning OBJECTIVES

ETHICS

At the conclusion of this course participants will be able to:

1. Define ethics and medical ethics, and explain the sources of these ethics.
2. Identify how medical ethics impact patient care.
3. Recognize new medical ethics issues.
4. Apply ethical principles to help improve patient care.
5. List and explain the four underlying principles of bioethics.
6. Understand the relationship between laws, professional ethics, and professional codes such as the AMA Code of Ethics.

ERRORS

• You will be able to explain the significance of the To Error is Human Report, and identify its highlights
• You will be able to list and discuss key steps that can be taken in the Improving of Health Care Quality
• You will be able to discuss the scope of the problem of medical errors and discuss how they have become a leading cause of death and injury

• You will be able to explain some of the reasons why errors happen, and what can be done to minimize their occurrence

• You will be able to discuss what types of errors can occur and where they tend to occur

• You will be able to explain what is meant by “root cause analysis” and identify the key steps in conducting that analysis

• You will be able to explain the JCAHO’s role in reducing medical errors and identify some of the key steps they have taken to accomplish that reduction