A place to start for a better understanding of ethics and bioethics is with the Balancing Act: Ethics in Health Care prepared in 2008 by St. Luke’s Health Initiatives. It is a readable introduction to ethics in Arizona.

The American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, “promotes the exchange of ideas and fosters multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and inter-professional scholarship, research, teaching, policy development, professional development, and collegiality among people engaged in clinical and academic bioethics and the medical humanities.” As part of its efforts, it has developed Core Competencies for Health Care Ethics Consultation. Like the ABN, the Society defines the scope of health care ethics broadly to include medical and clinical ethics as well as professional, research, organizational,  and business ethics.

Another valuable resource is the National Center for Ethics in Health Care (Ethics Center) of the Veteran’s Health Administration. It addresses ”the complex ethical issues that arise in patient care, health care management, and research.” The Center’s mission is to clarify and promote ethical health care practices throughout VHA and nationwide. Toward that end, it offers nearly all of the resources developed for the VA to the public. Their program of “IntegratedEthics offers practical, user-friendly tools to help health care leaders and staff: respond to ethical questions at the level of actions and decisions through Ethics Consultation; address ethics quality gaps at the level of systems and processes by applying a quality improvement approach in Preventive Ethics; and foster a strong ethical environment and culture through Ethical Leadership.” Explore the site to find useful tools you can use in your institution.

For a broader perspective, go to the  Ethics and Public Health: Model Curriculum. It was developed collaboratively between the  Association for Schools of Public Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and The Hastings Center but resides on the Association for Schools of Public Health website. Click on the title above and the table of contents will appear.  You can select and download the modules that interest you.  The curriculum is not just for those in public health. It discusses the ethics of ”contemporary issues” and research and was developed for pre-professional and professional use in public health and health care.  It offers a wide range of case examples.