Ethical Decision-Making in Care

Learn how to use ethical frameworks to make decisions in care

On this course, you’ll explore ethical issues that arise in daily care, and learn the best practices for reflecting on and making moral decisions.

You’ll consider different ethical frameworks, including human rights, virtue ethics and the ‘Four Principles’ of medical ethics: nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and respect for autonomy.

You’ll compare methods of analysing a caregiving scenario, and identify the moral and ethical problems of a care situation. You’ll also learn how to apply a deliberative framework, where deliberation on a decision from multiple points of view is essential.

This course is primarily designed for caregivers, care assistants and nurses.

However, the course will also be of interest to anyone engaged in health and social care, or who uses health and social care services.

• Ethical principles and decision-making in care
• Introduction
• What is ethics?
• The Four Principles Approach
• Becky's story
• Application of the Four Principles Approach
• Human rights in care decision-making
• The development of ethics in care
• Introducing a Human Rights Perspective
• Nicky's story
• Laurence's story
• Human Rights in action in health and social care
• Virtues to negotiate ethical dilemmas in care
• Introducing Virtue Ethics
• Jack's story
• Jennifer's story
• Virtues and pandemic ethics
• The ETHICS Deliberative Framework
• Introducing the ETHICS Deliberative Framework
• Applying the ETHICS Deliberative Framework
• Reflecting on ethics in care