PTs and PTAs are Everyday Ethicists: Strategies for Successful Practice

by Debra Gorman-Badar, PT, MA, PhD Candidate

Zoom Link, Register in advance here

About Debra Gorman-Badar:
Debra Gorman-Badar is a Montana PT and doctoral candidate at the St. Louis University’s Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics. She is the Chair of Montana APTA’s Ethics Committee and a member of APTA’s Ethics and Judicial Committee. Debra recently wrote an article published in #PTTransforms exploring the relationship between two social goods of health safety and economic security, which requires creative thinking and decision making. She has published “Dynamic Autonomy in Chronic Pain Management: Frida Kahlo Illustrates”. J of Humanities in Rehabilitation. Spring 2020. https://www.jhrehab.org/2020/05/08/dynamic-autonomy-in-chronic-pain-management-frida-kahlo-illustrates/. And, publication of “Particularizing an Internal Morality of Physical Therapy” is pending in PTJ.

Ethics in Physical Therapy

PTs and PTAs don’t think of themselves as ethicists, yet ethics is everywhere, especially in professional practices. Patients seek our help during a time of vulnerability in their lives – they are limited in their physical function and social participation. How we respond to vulnerable people matters. How we conduct ourselves matters. Ethical situations can envelope us in moral confusion and moral distress and leave us with moral residue. Ethical decision can cause harm.

The past year has shined a light on how ethics is an everyday concern full of challenges and fraught with uncertainty. It is integral to all aspects of our lives. With ethical knowledge and decision-making skills we develop moral and clinical competence and confidence. Health care ethicists have developed ways to resolve ethical situations through different lenses involving the multiple ingredients of human living. Understanding how to reasonably and creatively apply various approaches within physical therapy practice mitigates harm and leads to flourishing lives.

Before this talk, please take time to think about and jot down an professional ethical situation that has troubled you. This situation may be in the past or present. This will be an active presentation for you to learn how to ethical analyze your chosen situation.