Ethics in Physical Therapy: Navigating Professional Standards (1 Contact Hour)

Course Type: Continuing Education (CE) / Professional Competency Seminar Duration: 1.0 Contact Hour Target Audience: Physical Therapists (PTs) and Physical Therapist Assistants (PTAs) This one-hour continuing education course provides physical therapy professionals with a practical, source-grounded framework to navigate the complex ethical and legal landscapes of modern clinical practice. The curriculum bridges universal bioethical principles—autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, veracity, and fidelity—with the enforceable standards and aspirational goals of the APTA Code of Ethics. Participants will explore the clinical realities of their fiduciary duty, learning how to protect vulnerable patients by maintaining strict professional boundaries, avoiding dual relationships, and securing ongoing, health-literacy-tailored informed consent. The course directly addresses contemporary workplace challenges, analyzing the ethical tensions created by corporate productivity quotas, telehealth privacy, and clinical paternalism. Using Jonsen’s systematic four-quadrant decision-making model, clinicians will gain a structured method to resolve everyday ethical dilemmas. Finally, the seminar outlines critical legal and professional accountability mandates, including mandatory reporting laws for suspected abuse, navigating colleague unfitness, and practicing safely within your jurisdictional scope of practice.