When Death The Unspoken Speaks: Bioethical Issues and End-of-Life Decisions
(4- Continuing Education Hours)

Course Description
When Death The Unspoken Speaks: Bioethical Issues and End-of-Life Decisions explores two different approaches to medical ethics—one based on the application of ethical principles to individual cases, the other based on case-by-case analysis. Practitioners will consider how we can use medical ethics in the formulation of health policy. Moreover, attention will be given to the following: the role of social workers as mediators when there is a difference of opinion between doctor and patient; and ways to support and facilitate patient self-determination.
Course Outline
Course Title: When Death The Unspoken Speaks: Bioethical Issues and
End-of-Life Decisions
Instructors: Trélan Nicole Holder, MS, LCSW
Terri-Ann O’Sullivan, MS, LCSW, CCRN
Contact Hours/CEUs: 4-Hours
Format: Online Self-Study Course (Text-based Readings and Videos)
Process: Register and pay for course. Read content online.
Pass online post-test and print certificate of completion. Registrants
can access course for 2 years from date of registration.
Learning Objectives
- Define Health according to the World Health Organization (WHO)
- Review the origins of Bioethics
- Identify the emergent issues of Bioethics
- Identify the philosophical and health management issues facing End- of-Life care
- Identify and consider the proverbial questions and challenges presented by medical innovations
- Consider the ethical challenges
- Identify and define four (4) key principles of medical ethics (patient autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, distributive justice).
- Identify the seven (7) Stages of Bioethics Mediation (Assessment and preparation, Beginning the Mediation, Presenting and Refining the Medical Facts, Gathering Information, Problem-solving, Resolution, Follow-up).
- Consider the role of social workers as mediators in the healthcare setting
Course Features
- Lectures 59
- Quizzes 8
- Students 18
- Certificate No
- Assessments Self
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Module 1: Course Overview and Pre-Test
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Module 2: Socio-Cultural Issues
Cultural Influences
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Module 3: Psychoanalytic Perspectives
Woking With The Dying
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Module 4: Medicalization
Thanatology, Cure At All Cost, Case Reviews
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Module 5: Advance Health Care Planning
Advance Directives
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Module 6: Availability & Quality
Palliative and Hospice Care
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Module 7: Bioethics
An Introduction to Medical Ethics
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Module 8: Ethical Decisions
Case Analysis
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Module 9: Quality of Death
Death With Dignity
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Module 10: Bioethics Mediation
Course Features
- Lectures 59
- Quizzes 8
- Students 18
- Certificate No
- Assessments Self