Cost:

$1,495

$1,295 (for students accepted into the TDI Certificate program)

If you are affiliated with Dartmouth (employee, alumni, student) please email for the Dartmouth rate.

If you are an employee of Dartmouth-Hitchcock, limited spaces are available at no charge, please email for more info.

Group rates are available, please email for more info.

I. Course Description

This course will demonstrate why and how ethics committees play a crucial role in improving patient care by evaluating and resolving ethics issues. Learners will gain the skills necessary for establishing or cultivating an effective ethics committee within their own organization.

Learners are provided with a course text, and be given the opportunity to have one-on-one mentoring conversations with Dr. Nelson to discuss specific issues related to the development of an ethics committee in their facility.  

Dr. Nelson will explain the ten essential steps for growing an ethics committee, including: developing a clearly defined purpose and functions document; and building a body of knowledgeable and skilled committee members.

 

II. Method of Participation

Online: This highly interactive course will consist of faculty presentations, live virtual group discussions, written assignments, selected readings and videos, and one-on-one mentoring appointments. The course will involve about 3 hours of activities per week.

Live Virtual Sessions

There are four 1-hour live virtual sessions:  

Sept. 26   1:00pm - 2:00pm EST 
Oct. 4      2:00pm - 3:00pm EST 
Oct. 18    2:00pm -3:00pm EST 
Nov 1      2:00pm -3:00pm EST 

 

 

III. Course Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the history, basic structure and various functions of an ethics committee;
• Adequately assess the need for an ethics committee, champion leadership support for that committee, and identify the leadership and membership of the committee itself;
• Create committee purpose and function documents;
• Implement the activities of the ethics committee; market those activities to colleagues and clients throughout the hospital;
• Develop committee self-education and self-evaluation programs;
• Identify and successfully navigate common obstacles and challenges encountered when creating or growing an ethics committee;
• Outline the place of an ethics committee in an organization-wide ethics program;
• Engage in one-on-one mentoring with faculty to address and resolve issues encountered in the development of the ethics program within their unique setting.

 

IV. Target Audience

This course is especially geared to give those working in small rural facilities or critical access hospitals, the tools to create a new ethics committee or to improve upon a current ethics committee or program. Emphasis is placed on key strategies to develop an ethics committee that is effectively integrated into the life of the organization.

The course is intended for a multi-disciplinary audience, including:

• health care administrators and clinicians;
• professionals seeking to develop an ethics committee;
• or, members of ethics committees, especially including those working in rural settings/critical access hospitals

 

V. Faculty Credentials

William Nelson, PhD – Associate Professor, Community and Family Medicine and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice; Director, Rural Ethics Initiative

William Nelson, MDiv, PhD is an Associate Professor, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (TDI) and Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. Dr. Nelson teaches intra-professional courses on health care ethics with a focus on the relation between ethics, quality and value in today's health care organizations. He also is an adjunct Associate Professor at New York University's Robert Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Previously he served as the Ethics Education Coordinator for the VA's National Center of Health Care Ethics, which he co-founded.

Dr. Nelson has published over 80 manuscripts, has delivered hundreds of invited presentations on organizational ethics topics in the US and internationally. In 2010 he co-edited Managing Ethically: An Executive's Guide (Health Administrative Press) and is a regular ethics column contributor to Healthcare Executive. He received his MDiv from Andover-Newton Theological School and his PhD from Union Graduate School and University.

Dr. Nelson is a recipient of the US Congressional Excalibur Award for Public Service and in 2004 received the Department of Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health's highest honor, the "Exemplary Service Award." He studied US and international health care policy as a W.K. Kellogg National Leadership Fellow. In 2006 Dr. Nelson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Elmhurst College.

Emily Taylor, MPH – Ethics Curriculum and Teaching Assistant, Office of Professional Education and Outreach, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice

 

VI. Technical Requirements

Course Technology

Blackboard’s Course Sites (Bb Learn) is the primary platform

Adobe Connect will be used for live virtual sessions

1. Computer:

Internet Connection: A Broadband connection is required - DSL or Cable strongly preferred

Operating System: For Windows: XP, Vista, or Windows 7 / For Mac: OS 10.4.x or later

Internal or external speakers and microphone

2. Web Browser:

A recent version of Firefox, Safari, or Google Chrome (Internet Explorer is not recommended).

3. Browser Plug-Ins:

Adobe Flash Player 10, Adobe PDF Reader 9.0 or above

4. Phone:

Land line or cell phone with a mute button for Live Meetings

VII. Accreditation Statements