SYLLABUS: NURSING ETHICS AND LEGISLATION

Academic Unit/ MEDICAL FACULTY,

Department: NURSING
Course: NURSING ETHICS AND LEGISLATION
Level: BACHELOR
Year of Study: I - st Semester: I-st Academic Year: 2015/2016
Course status: Obligatory
Number of Hours per Week: 3+2
ECTS Credits: 4
Course Teacher: Prof. Ass. Dr. NaimJerliu, MD, MS, PhD
Contact Details: naim.jerliu@uni-gjk.org

Course Description:
Medical ethics for nursing students provides the basic knowledge to understand and recognize the ethical
principles in health, the role of the nurse/es in modern society, health professional-patient relationship,
health and disease, standards in ethics of nursing, deontology, codices and health legislation. Knowledge of
nursing ethics is particularly important in professional and scientific development in modern nursing.

Aims of the Course:

The Course aims to provide for students the following:
• Get acquainted with basic ethical principles, understand and apply ethical principles to cases in
medicine and in scientific research;
• Define the ethical competence of health professionals;
• Get familiar with legislation in the field of medical ethics and deontology;
• Understand and apply the principles of consent of the patient;
• Assess the importance of ethical principles in health professional-patient relationship (professional
confidentiality, beneficence, justice, truthfulness, accepting errors);
• Sensitize the common ethical dilemmas in clinical practice.

Course Objectives / Learning Outcomes :

Upon completion of this course students will be able to:
• Define competencies of health professionals and understand the regulation of their professional
and legislative status;
• Describe basic characteristics of the nursing profession and the role of ethics in the articulation of
moral obligations;
• Understand and evaluate the importance of ethical principles that govern healthcare
professional-patient relationship (confidentiality, privilege, justice, truth-telling, accepting errors)
• Get familiar with main ethical theories, relevant to the medical practice, and formulate clear
strategies for decision-making clinical-ethical issues in health;
• Understand and apply the principle of informed consent;
• Sensitize to common ethical dilemmas in their practice and discuss major ethical problems through
case studies in the clinic;
• Understand and apply the code of nursing ethics
1
 Teaching Methodology
Lectures Seminars Exercises Consultations Mentoring Multimedia /
Internet

Student Workload (Consistent with the Learning Outcomes)

The teaching process Hours per No. of Total Course ECTS
Week Weeks Hours
Lectures 3 15 45
Seminars/exercises 2 15 30
Projects/presentations/consultations 1 4 4
4
Self-study Time (in the Library or at Home) 40
Exam 1
Total: 120

Evaluation Methods:
Final evaluation of students will be done by assessing:

– Participation and involvement in lectures

– Participation and involvement in seminars and exercises
– Final Exam

Literature:

Basic Literature:

 Prof. Dr. NaserRamadani: ShëndetësiaPublike&Etika, Prishtinë, 2005.

 BardhylÇipi, SokratMeksi. EtikaMjekësore, Tiranë, 2013
 BrizidaRefatllari, VenetikeMerkaj, FloretaKurti. EtikadheDeontologjiaMjekësore. Tiranë, 2015
 GjergjiAleksi, PirroPrifti, VetimaMurzaku. Psikologjia, Etika, DeontologjiaMjekësore. Tiranë, 2003
Additional Literature:

 John Tingle, Alan Cribb, Ed. Nursing Law and Ethics. Blackwell Science Ltd.2nd Edition, 2002
 Martin Benjamin, Joy Curtis. Ethics in Nursing. Oxford University Press, 3rdEdition, 1992
 Arras JD.,Steinbock B: Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine, 4 ed. Mayfild Publishing Company,
Mountain Wiew, California, 1995.
 Jonsen AR., Siegler M., Winslade JW. Clinical Ethics. A Clinical Approach to Ethical Decisions in
Clinical Medicine, 4 ed. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1998.
 Fox R, Swasey J. Observing bioethics. New York: Oxford; 2008
 Beauchamp TL, Chlidress JF. Principles of biomedical ethics. New York; 2009.

Course Plan:

2
Week Title of the Lecture
Week 1: The course aims and tasks of medical ethics.
Definition, history, problems and importance. Ethics and morality.
Week 2: Medical ethics and deontology. Medical ethics and law. Traditional medical ethics. Ethical
dilemmas of health professionals
Week 3: Bioethics: aim, development and specific aspects of bioethics. National and international
legislation.
Week 4: Fundamental ethical principles in the context of health care.Beneficence, Non-maleficence -
"first, do no harm" (primum non nocere), Justice, Respect for autonomy, Truthfulness
and honesty.
Week 5: Health staff-patient relationship. Ethical and legal principles. Ethical and professional figure of
the physician and other medical personnel.
Week 6: Standards of ethical behavior.

Week 7: Ethical concepts in nursing practice

Week 8: Code of ethics and its content. The role of the physician and health professional in modern
society.
Week 9: Medical professional secrecy. Ethical and legal meaning, medical secret to the public, patient
confidentiality. Informed consent of the patient. Confidentiality. Dilemmas over Truthfulness.
Week 10: Genetics and human procreation. Issues related to the beginning of human life.

Week 11: Medical ethics and deontology in ambulatory and hospital settings. Ethical principles of
relations between doctors, other health personnel and health institutions authority.
Week 12: General problems of medical ethics and deontology in medical practice. Ethical, legal and
scientific value of diagnosis and treatment. Ethical-legal concept of medical error and
disaster.
Week 13: Health care to patients with infectious diseases.

Week 14: Ethical and legal aspects on the end of life. Ethical - legal aspects of euthanasia and suicide

Week 15: Ethical - legal aspects of human experimentation and clinical transplantation. Ethical - legal
aspects of psychiatric patients, surgery, gynecology and obstetrics, pediatrics, etc.
Academic Policies and Rules of Conduct:
Regular attendance at lectures and exercises.