MHS5106 Ethics of mental health care

Ethics of mental health care will cover the essentials components of psychiatric ethics and is recognised by The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) as part of an accredited formal education course that includes an elective ethics component.

This unit teaches ethical concepts in capacity, the ethics of coercive treatment, boundary issues, issues of the exercise of power in psychiatry, privacy ad confidentiality, relationships with industry (particularly pharmaceutical companies), end-of-life decisions (including 'do not resuscitate' orders), child protection, ethics of duality and conflicts of interest and the ethics of the distribution of healthcare resources.

Professionalism in the workplace is introduced with teaching on personal ethics and integrity, maintaining professional standards, and personal well being. The unit also examines the principles underpinning mental health legislation and local legislation as it applies to specific groups of patients (forensic, child, adolescent and addiction), responsibilities under the Mental Health Act, relevant common law principles, e.g. capacity, necessity, duty-of-care, duty-to-warn, mandatory reporting requirements (including ethical considerations and health practitioner's context), testamentary capacity, advance health directives, supported and substitute decision making (e.g. guardianship and administration, and enduring power of attorney), understanding the role of an expert in legal proceedings, and the principles of psychiatric defences and fitness to plead/stand trial.