LWN164 Health Care Law and Ethics

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Gardens Point, Internal

Overview

The relationship between law and ethics in healthcare is important, as health knowledge and interventions and our understandings of the respective roles, responsibilities and rights of health professionals, health organisations, patients and the state, amongst others, continue to rapidly develop and evolve. This unit explores the relationship between law and ethics to lay the foundations of an understanding of both law and ethics as they relate to healthcare.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Critically appraise the dynamic nature of law and ethics in healthcare in terms of their continuing development and the impact of various legal, ethical, moral, economic, political, philosophical, social and cultural factors on developments in this area.
2. Clearly articulate and defend positions on a range of issues at the intersection of healthcare ethics and law in a respectful, constructive and persuasive manner that acknowledges contrasting perspectives.
3. Conduct research comprising critical analysis, synthesis and evaluation of complex legal and ethical issues in a healthcare context.
4. Justify responses to healthcare challenges in diverse contexts.

Content

Learning Approaches

In this unit, you will learn by engaging in the following:

• Intensive teaching period (2 x 2 days, 6-7 hours each day)
• lectures (on-campus and recordings are available)
• online readings and learning materials
• self-paced and blended learning
• embedded library guide

The unit is divided into select topics with prescribed readings and questions to focus your reading. It will be taught using a lecture format which will involve the lecturer introducing the topic and identifying key areas of inquiry and discussion. There will be group or individual exercises and/or lecturer led discussions.

Where appropriate guest speakers may contribute to the lectures.

You are expected to be familiar with the readings for each topic and able to contribute to a meaningful discussion of relevant issues. There will be a strong emphasis on critical analysis. Where appropriate guest speakers may contribute to the lectures.

You will have the opportunity to consult with staff on an informal basis about any aspect of the unit throughout the intensive teaching period and prior to the date for the submission of the research proposal and paper.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Feedback on the development of your understanding of law and ethics examined in this unit is provided through: 

• Discussions during lectures will provide informal feedback from peers and academic teaching staff;
• Feedback on your workbook, and individual feedback on your research outline and research paper

You are encouraged to discuss your research question with a teaching staff member. You will have ongoing opportunities to consult with a member of the teaching team. 

Assessment

Overview

Assessment in this unit is both formative and summative.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Workbook

Completion of the mandatory workbook exercises requires you to articulate and defend positions on specified issues at the intersection of healthcare ethics and law that acknowledges contrasting perspectives. You will be provided with readings to undertake and questions to answer that require you to critically analyse the information.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Assessment: Research outline

You will propose a research question or argument, and provide a brief literature review, and a research methodology. The outline should explain the issues you propose to explore; justify the contribution that the paper is making to scholarship; identify and justify the methods to be adopted; and identify relevant preliminary primary and secondary sources.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Assessment: Research Paper

you will produce a research paper about an issue of your choice (formally approved by the lecturer) concerning healthcare law and ethics. The aim is to produce a scholarly article  that identifies, synthesises, and analyses the ethical and legal implications of the issue. This involves a high level of critical analysis and argument in which you must, amongst other things, consider ethical and legal issues that are relevant to the issue.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Resource Materials

Recommended text(s)

Ben White, Fiona McDonald and Lindy Willmott eds. Health Law in Australia, 3rd edition, Sydney: Thomson, 2018.

Ian Kerridge, Michael Lowe and Cameron Stewart, Ethics and Law for the Health Professions (Federation Press, Sydney, 4th ed, 2013)

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with this unit.

Course Learning Outcomes

PU84 Master of Health Management

1. Apply authoritative knowledge of current strategies in health leadership, management and research to the analysis, planning and management of complex situations.
   Relates to: ULO1, Workbook, Research outline
2. Apply abstraction and discrimination skills to synthesise complex information, interrogate emergent issues to distil a clear message from the evidence base to make confident, holistic decisions.
   Relates to: ULO3, Research outline
3. Analyse and interpret complex information, systems, evidence to formulate policy and contextualise to diverse groups, specialist and non-specialist audiences.
   Relates to: ULO2, Workbook, Research outline