Ethics in Rehabilitation Practice
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Ethics in Rehabilitation Practice
$45.00
- CE Hours: 2.0 Hours, 2.0 CEU
- Delivered: Online
- Instant Onlne Access, 365 days of access, Mobile Ready
- No auto-renewal for this option
All Access Online CEU for PT, PTA and OT
$189
All Access Online CEU for PT, PTA and OT Subscription
1 Year Access with Annual Renewal
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- Meet all your CE requirements. Pre-approved for PT, PTAs in AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MA, ME, MI, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, NY, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, and WY.
- AOTA approved.
- Designed for Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Athletic Trainers and Assistants.
- Access to future courses and content.
- Start, stop and resume, right where you left off in a course.
- Real patient interviews.
- Medical expert contributors.
- 3D anatomy and medical illustrations.
- Easy to use learning system for fast access to your courses.
- Award winning content.
- Top instructors teaching evidence based skills and techniques.
Ethics in Rehabilitation Practice
Beyond Rules, Toward Professional Integrity
In today's rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, clinical expertise alone is no longer enough to navigate the complexities of modern practice. This online beginner-level course is designed specifically for PTs, OTs, and their assistants to bridge the gap between technical skill and the moral integrity required for leadership. By grounding your practice in the most current standards including the APTA updated Code of Ethics (effective 2026) and the AOTA Code of Ethics, the clinician will gain a deep understanding of the nine ethical commitments and the foundational pillars of Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-maleficence, and Justice. These core principles ensure that patient rights, informed consent, and equitable care remain at the forefront of every clinical decision you make, providing you with a clear roadmap for professional excellence.
Beyond simple compliance, this curriculum provides a robust toolkit for handling the "gray areas" of practice, such as productivity pressures, billing integrity, and complex supervision. You will move beyond intuition by mastering the RIPS model for structured decision-making and exploring the five primary ethical frameworks Utilitarian, Rights-based, Virtue, Common Good, and Justice/Fairness. Furthermore, the course emphasizes personal well-being by helping the clinician identify implicit biases and the early signs of professional burnout. Ultimately, you will emerge with a strengthened ethical compass and the duty of Veracity and Fidelity, equipped to mitigate moral distress and act as a courageous advocate for your patients in a demanding regulatory environment.
Upon successful completion of this course, the rehabilitation professional will be able to:
- Analyze Standards of Conduct: Distinguish between personal moral beliefs and professional ethics (APTA/AOTA Codes) to ensure compliant rehabilitation practice.
- Apply Ethical Frameworks: Define and apply the five primary ethical approaches including utilitarian, rights-based, and justice/fairness frameworks to evaluate clinical scenarios from multiple perspectives.
- Navigate Clinical Dilemmas: Apply APTA and AOTA Codes of Ethics to resolve common dilemmas regarding documentation, productivity, billing, and scope of practice.
- Implement Structured Decision-Making: Utilize a structured ethical decision-making framework to resolve real-world clinical conflicts and balance conflicting ethical principles.
- Mitigate Risk and Distress: Recognize ethical risks and signs of moral distress, implementing grounded strategies to reduce burnout and professional risk.
- Practice Self-Reflection: Reflect on personal values, biases, and emotions to navigate ethical dilemmas using objective, structured reasoning.
- Demonstrate Collaborative Advocacy: Execute ethical communication and collaboration with patients and interdisciplinary teams, including documentation and advocacy for equitable care and patient safety.
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Online CEU Course for PT, PTA, OT State Accreditation
Framework for the Course : Ethics, Morals, and Law
Framework for the Course : Ethics, Morals, and Law
Section One: Four Pillars of Bioethics: Autonomy, Beneficence, Nonmalficence, Justice
- Description of four Pillars
- Clinical scenarios for each Pillar
- Reflection
Section Two: Standard of Ethics: Veracity, Fidelity, Accountability
- Venn Diagram Morals, Ethics, and the law
- What happened when the circles don't overlap? The gray area?
- Reflection questions
- Key takeaways
Section Three: APTA and AOTA Code of Professional Ethics: 2026 Updates
- APTA Standards of Conduct: Nine Principles
- Clinical examples for each principle:
- Pursuing CEU, Declining unfamiliar interventions, Referring to specialists, delegation etc Shared Ethical Language for PT and OT
- AOTA Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct
- AOTA Core Values
- Reflection Questions/ examples
- Ethical Tension in the Work Place
- Case studies and examples
- Key takeaways
Section Four: Ethical Decision Making Models
- Ethical Self check
- Moral distress and burnout
- Ethical practice to prevent burnout
- Navigating Ethical Dilemmas
- Key takeaways
Section Five: Ethical Approaches for Decision making
- Ethical Reasoning
- Ethical Dilemmas
- Ethical decision making
- Why Ethics Matter
- Five Ethical Lenses: Utilitarian, Rights, Justice, Common Good, Virtue
- Clinical scenarios for each ethical Lens
- Reflection Questions
- Key takeaways
- Ethical Reasoning and applications in practice
Section Six: RIPS: Realm, Individual Process Situation
- RIPS explained
- Reflection for Clinicians
- Clinical Scenarios
- Practical takeaways
- Closing Thoughts
Section Seven: The Therapists of Record and Professional roles
- APTA definition
- Clinical role, administrator, educator, researcher, consultant
- Delegation vs. Accountability
- Ethical and Legal Considerations
- Summary and Key takeaways
- Case study: Productivity/Ethics Intersection
- Case Study The Conflict of resources Allocation and Clinical Autonomy
- Analysis of the Gray area
Section Eight: Recognition of the Realm and Process
- Applying Ethical Framework
- Structured Action Plan
- Summary of Theory: review of Ethical Flow chart
- Summary of the course, references
Learn From the Expert - healthclick Clinical Team
The professional staff at North American Seminars, Inc. is comprised of highly skilled physical and occupational therapists holding advanced clinical degrees and certifications. Led by Deborah Vastano, PT, an executive with over 35 years of experience, this team leverages a <"full-spectrum" clinical background, spanning orthopedics, neurology, and acute care to architect evidence-based curriculum. Our approach to course writing is rooted in a rigorous research methodology that synthesizes evolving medical literature with practical clinical applications. By operating as a collaborative group of rehabilitation specialists, we ensure that every program we produce reflects the highest standards of professional education, transforming evidence-based information and clinical guidelines into actionable knowledge for healthcare providers nationwide.
This team-based expertise is foundational to our development of healthcare ethics, jurisprudence, and compliance programming, which undergoes a stringent peer-review process by leading clinicians within our professional community. Our staff of therapists proactively monitors shifts in state and federal legislation to ensure that our curriculum meet current regulatory standards. By combining our roles as researchers and content architects, we provide a deep-dive analysis into the ethical responsibilities of the modern clinician, ensuring that integrity and quality remain at the forefront of patient care. This collaborative commitment to research and multi-layered peer validation allows NAS to remain a a leader in education, delivering high-impact programs that bridge the gap between legal requirements and daily clinical practice.