be INFOrMED is Australia’s first web-based training resource for health professionals on the medico-legal principles of consent to treatment. be INFOrMED is designed to reduce the risk of litigation by promoting best practice in the area of informed consent.

The overall aim of the resource is to provide clinicians with the necessary knowledge of the law concerning consent to treatment, with the objective of reducing the possibility of litigation claims being brought against them.

This invaluable tool for health professionals has been developed by Malcolm Parker, Associate Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of Queensland.

Continuing Professional Development

This online training has been endorsed by Royal College of Nursing, Australia according to approved criteria. A total of 8 Continuing Nurse Education (CNE) points has been allocated to the training. These points may be used by nurses as part of their enrollment in the RCNA Life Long Learning Program (3LP).

This resource has also been approved by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons as a Continuing Medical Education activity. This educational activity has been approved in the College’s CPD Program. Fellows who participate can claim one point per hour (maximum 8 points) in Category 7: Other Professional Development towards 2010 CPD totals.

Members of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine are entitled to claim 8 ACRRM PDP points for participating.

Features

At a glance:

• Regularly updated
• Unlimited users within the licensing hospital
• User-tracking function to see who has used the resource
• Four easy to navigate modules
• Interactive self-test questions designed to check understanding
• Practical problem scenarios with suggested answers
• Recommended further reading sections
• Interactive glossary of medico-legal terms

be INFOrMED specifically provides information about:

• the current law surrounding patient consent to treatment
• the consequences of not obtaining patient consent to treatment
• the issues surrounding minors and their consent to treatment
• the treatment of patients who are lacking capacity
• the ethical issues surrounding the use of new or experimental treatments
• end of life decision making

The resource is structured into four modules that provide current information about the law surrounding consent to treatment and its specific application to those involved in patient care. Each module has a comprehensive list of learning objectives to help health professionals to make sure that they grasp the important principles.

Descriptions of specialist legal terminology are displayed by means of an interactive glossary.

As health professionals work through the resource, their grasp of the principles can be tested and improved by spending some time thoughtfully considering the problem scenarios. We strongly urge health professionals to discuss the problem scenarios with their colleagues.

Health professionals can test their knowledge at the end of each module by using the self-test questions. This tool can be used to guide health professionals to the areas they should focus on.

Where modules refer to documentation, either from Health Departments or other sources, these are included in the further reading sections.

As health professionals work through the course, they can view their progress by selecting the “My progress” function from the menu. Here they can view the module sections they have accessed and navigate easily to specific sections to continue their learning. The “My progress” function will also display their highest scores for the self-test questions for each module.

Health professionals should make sure that they diligently study the material in the resource itself – it should take them at least 8 hours to gain a good grasp of the medico-legal principles of consent to treatment. If they want to gain a comprehensive understanding, they should also cover the material that they are directed to in the further reading sections. In this case they should aim to devote a minimum of 40 hours to their studies. Health professionals can take their time and work at a speed that is comfortable for them.

Specialist Management Services is committed to providing the highest standard of information to health professionals so that their patients can be INFOrMED. The law surrounding consent to treatment is constantly being ruled on by the courts and the information contained in this resource is regularly updated to reflect the current legal decisions and principles.