Ethics and professionalism CPD for health practitioners in Australia [email protected]
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Online course · Australia

Ethics and Ethical Standards for Paramedics

Values, Ethical Reasoning and Hard Decisions Under the Paramedicine Board's Code

  • About 2 hours
  • 15 scenario questions
  • Reflective account
  • Certificate of completion
  • Online, self-paced

About this course

Paramedics make ethical decisions in living rooms, on roadsides and in the back of an ambulance, often with incomplete information and families watching. This course gives paramedics a way to reason through those decisions and to explain them afterwards.

The course explains why ethics is different from rules and protocols and introduces four ethical lenses for paramedics, along with the values the Code asks you to hold. It then moves from gut feeling to justification, with a deliberative framework for hard cases and guidance on consulting, disagreeing and documenting your reasoning.

A section on death and dying covers withholding and stopping resuscitation, palliative patients with unclear wishes, voluntary assisted dying and conscientious objection. Autonomy and protection lessons cover respecting unwise choices without abandoning the patient, restraint and sedation, and protecting children and adults experiencing violence. Justice lessons cover fair care across distance, demand and disaster, cultural safety, stigma and harm reduction.

The final sections deal with truth-telling at the scene and after a death, dual loyalty to patients, employers, police and the public, consent in emergency research, moral courage, moral injury and building an ethical crew culture.

What you will learn

  • Tell ethics apart from law, standards and clinical protocols, and name the values beneath the Code
  • Reason through complex cases with four lenses and a deliberative framework
  • Recognise the biases and moral disengagement that distort judgement
  • Reason through stopping resuscitation, unclear end-of-life wishes and voluntary assisted dying
  • Respect unwise choices and dignity of risk while applying strict tests before any coercion
  • Weigh duties to protect children and adults experiencing violence against confidentiality
  • Give the same quality of care to every patient, including people who use drugs, and practise harm reduction
  • Handle truth-telling, dual loyalty and emergency research ethically, and recognise moral injury

Who this course is for

  • Road paramedics employed by ambulance services in every state and territory
  • Paramedics in private, industrial, event and remote services
  • Intensive care, extended care and community paramedics
  • Paramedic educators and clinical support officers
  • Paramedics seeking structured reflection after a difficult case

How the course works

  1. After checkout the course is added to My Courses in your account, so you can start straight away on any device with a modern browser.

  2. Move through 7 sections (21 lessons in total) in your own time; lessons open in sequence and the player remembers where you stopped on that device.

  3. Each section ends with key points and prompts for reflection. Your notes can be downloaded as a Word course pack or printed for your portfolio.

  4. Sit the 15-question assessment at the end. Score 80% or more (12 of 15) to pass; answer options are reshuffled if you retake.

  5. Complete the reflective account and feedback to finish. Your certificate of completion shows the estimated learning time (about 2 hours), and you record the time you actually spend in your CPD log.

Course content

8 sections · About 2 hours · 15-question final assessment

1Ethics in Paramedicine: The Values Beneath the Code3 lessons
  • Why Ethics Is Different From Rules and Protocols
  • Four Ethical Lenses for Paramedics
  • The Values the Code Asks You to Hold
2Ethical Reasoning When There Is Time to Think3 lessons
  • From Gut Feeling to Justification
  • A Deliberative Framework for Hard Cases
  • Consulting, Disagreeing and Documenting Ethical Reasoning
3Death, Dying and Resuscitation in the Community3 lessons
  • Withholding and Stopping Resuscitation
  • Palliative Patients and Unclear Wishes
  • Voluntary Assisted Dying and Conscientious Objection
4Autonomy, Risk and Protection3 lessons
  • Respecting Unwise Choices Without Abandoning the Patient
  • Restraint, Sedation and the Ethics of Coercion
  • Protecting Children and Adults Experiencing Violence
5Justice, Equity and Cultural Safety3 lessons
  • Fair Care Across Distance, Demand and Disaster
  • Cultural Safety as an Ethical Commitment
  • Stigma, Harm Reduction and Marginalised Patients
6Truth, Confidentiality and Divided Loyalties3 lessons
  • Truth-Telling at the Scene and After a Death
  • Dual Loyalty: Patients, Employers, Police and the Public
  • Research, Innovation and Consent in Emergencies
7Moral Courage, Moral Injury and Ethical Culture3 lessons
  • Moral Courage: Acting on Your Values
  • Moral Injury and Repair
  • Building an Ethical Crew and Service Culture
8Conclusion, Final Assessment and Reflection4 lessons
  • Conclusion and key points
  • References and quick-reference guide
  • Final assessment (15 questions, 80% pass mark)
  • Your reflective account

Assessment and certificate

  • Certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time (about 2 hours); record the time you actually spend.
  • A written reflective account you can keep with your CPD records.

Questions about this course

Does the course replace my service's clinical practice guidelines?

No. It works alongside them, focusing on the ethical judgement needed where guidelines leave room for decisions or where values conflict.

Is voluntary assisted dying covered for paramedics?

Yes. It explains the ethical issues paramedics face when attending a patient involved in VAD, including conscientious objection, and notes that laws differ by state and territory.

Does it address restraint and sedation?

Yes. A lesson sets out ethical tests for coercion, including necessity, proportionality and least restrictive options.

How does it differ from the paramedic professionalism course?

This course is about ethical reasoning in hard cases. The professionalism course covers registration obligations, insurance, scope, CPD, private practice and accountability.

What evidence do I get when I finish?

You receive a certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time, and you can download a course pack holding your learning record, a revision sheet and your own reflections. Your CPD log should show the time you actually spend.

Does completing the course satisfy a condition or undertaking?

Not automatically. Where a Board has set education as a condition or undertaking, the course usually has to be nominated and accepted first, so check with Ahpra or the Board, and your legal adviser or defence organisation, before you enrol.

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