Navigating Ethics and Law in Healthcare Decision Making

Pittsburgh, PA US
February 18, 2026

This course will explore how law and ethics shape patient care decisions and offer practical tools to help guide ethically and legally sound recommendations.  

Target Audience

RNs / SW / Health Coaches / Paramedics / EMTs / Pharmacists 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this presentation, learners should be able to: 

  • Describe how legal requirements and ethical principles interest and diverge in clinical decision-making.  

  • Explore commonly used ethical and legal approaches to guide decision-making in patient care. 

  • Analyze real-world cases to practice applying these approaches to clinical decision-making. 

Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 ANCC
    UPMC Provider Unit is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation
  • 1.00 ASWB
  • 1.00 Attendance
Course opens: 
02/18/2026
Course expires: 
03/18/2026
Event starts: 
02/18/2026 - 1:00pm EST
Event ends: 
02/18/2026 - 2:00pm EST
Add to calendar: 

TIME 

CONTENT 

PRESENTER 

1:00 pm – 1:15 pm 

Discuss how the ethical principles and legal requirements intersect (and diverge) in patient care decisions.  

Kate Gordon 

1:15 – 1:40 pm 

Explore the frameworks commonly used in decision making through some case examples and discussion 

Kate Gordon 

1:40 – 2:00 pm 

Further case Analysis and discussion and provide some key take-aways 

Kate Gordon 

UPMC Health Plan
600 Grant St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
United States

Kate M. Gordon, JD, PhD, HEC-C, is a Senior Clinical Ethicist for Emory Healthcare, where she leads clinical ethics consultation services across a large academic health system and contributes to ethics education, policy development, and quality improvement. She is a certified healthcare ethics consultant and completed a clinical ethics fellowship at Wellstar Health System. 

Nursing (CNE) 

The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 1.0 contact hour(s). 

CCM CE will be provided: 1.0 CE - CCM COA will be sent via email from UPMC Health Plan nurse planner approximately 6-8 weeks following the live date of the course. 

This activity is eligible for endorsed credit for UPMC Health Plan EMTs and Paramedics.  Complete ETHOS course work, obtain the attendance certificate, and submit to EMS governing body for 1.0 CE credit(s). 

As a Jointly Accredited Organization, University of Pittsburgh is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. University of Pittsburgh maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 1.0 continuing education credit(s). 

Other health care professionals will receive a certificate of attendance confirming the number of contact hours commensurate with the extent of participation in this activity. 

NOTE:  Paramedic/EMT CE is approved for any activity in which ANCC (nursing CE) is approved.  This is per Heather Bogdon and Christie Hempfling 

Available Credit

  • 1.00 ANCC
    UPMC Provider Unit is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation
  • 1.00 ASWB
  • 1.00 Attendance
Please login or register to take this course.