Professional Ethics Course
Course Description
Professional Ethics for Healthcare Professionals (USA) is a course designed to help clinicians strengthen their ethical and professional standards, particularly when facing complaints, remediation, or disciplinary inquiries.
The course explores how ethics and professionalism overlap in U.S. healthcare — covering honesty, integrity, accountability, boundaries, and respect — and shows how these values are enforced by state licensing boards, the FSMB, and national associations (AMA, ANA, ADA, APhA). Learners will also study common breaches such as dishonesty, disrespect, confidentiality violations, and boundary issues, and learn how to demonstrate reflection, insight, and remediation in regulatory processes.
Through case studies, structured ethical frameworks, and regulator-aligned strategies, participants will learn how to embed professional ethics into their daily identity, protect patients, and maintain public trust.
Course Content
Course Objectives
Course Objectives
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Section 1: Introduction — What Professional Ethics Means in U.S. Healthcare
1.1 Ethics as the Core of Professional Practice
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1.2 Why Ethics Matters for Patient Safety
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1.3 Why Ethics Matters for Public Trust
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1.4 Ethics and Licensure
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1.5 Hallmarks of Professional Ethics
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1.6 Reflective Quiz
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Section 2: Why Professional Ethics Matters — Patient Safety, Trust, and Licensure
2.1 Autonomy — Respecting Patient Choice
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2.2 Beneficence — Acting in the Patient’s Best Interest
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2.3 Non-Maleficence — Do No Harm
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2.4 Professional Ethics and Teamwork
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2.5 Professional Ethics and Organisational Reputation
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2.6 Why Regulators Link Ethics to Sanctions
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2.8 Reflective Quiz
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Section 3: Core Elements of Professional Ethics
3.1 The American Medical Association (AMA) Code of Medical Ethics
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3.2 The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics
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3.3 The American Dental Association (ADA) Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct
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3.4 The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Code of Ethics
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3.5 Professional Boundaries — Protecting Trust
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3.6 How These Elements Interconnect
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3.6 Reflective Quiz
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Section 4: Professional Codes and Ethical Standards (AMA, ANA, ADA, APhA)
4.1 Dishonesty and Lack of Probity
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4.2 Breaches of Confidentiality
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4.3 Boundary Violations
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4.4 Conflicts of Interest
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4.5 Shared Ethical Themes Across Codes
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4.9 Reflective Quiz
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Section 5: Common Ethical and Professional Breaches in U.S. Healthcare Practice
5.1 The Four Principles Approach (Beauchamp & Childress)
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5.2 The Four Quadrants Model (Jonsen, Siegler, Winslade)
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5.3 The “MORAL” Decision-Making Model (Common in Nursing)
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5.4 The PLUS Ethical Decision-Making Model (Organisational Ethics)
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5.5 Conflicts of Interest
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5.6 Disrespect and Unprofessional Conduct
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5.7 Digital Professionalism Lapses
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5.8 Health and Substance Impairment
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5.6 Reflective Quiz
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Section 6: Reflection, Insight, and Remediation in Professional Ethics
6.1 Why Reflection Matters in Ethical Practice
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6.2 What Strong Reflection Looks Like
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6.3 The Role of Insight
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6.4 Accountability as a Core Ethical Duty
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6.5 Impact on Regulatory Outcomes
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6.6 Embedding Reflection, Insight, and Remediation into Daily Practice
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6.7 Why Regulators Prioritise These Qualities
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6.8 Reflective Quiz
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Section 7: Ethical Decision-Making in Professional Dilemmas
7.1 Case Study: Informed Consent (Physician)
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7.2 Case Study: Confidentiality Breach (Nurse)
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7.3 Case Study: Boundary Violation (Dentist)
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7.4 The MORAL Model (Nursing and Allied Health)
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7.5 The PLUS Model (Organisational Ethics)
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7.6 Ethical Decision-Making in Disciplinary Contexts
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