ETHICS AND BIOETHICS
Learning outcomes of the course unit
The aim of the course is to make students aware of the ethical aspects of the midwife’s profession especially those concerning relations with the patient, and to bring to their knowledge the increasingly more complex issues linked to scientific and technological progress at the beginning of life.
Course contents summary
History of Bioethics. Principles of Bioethics and the ethical theories. The human embryo question. Medically assisted procreation and in vitro insemination: ethical aspects. Biotechnology: cloning, staminal cells, bioengineering. The human genome and the frontiers of science. Rights of the embryo and of the couple. Rights conflicts. The midwife-patient relationship. Organ donations for transplantation purposes. Living-donor transplants. The ethics of organ transplantation. Euthanasia and heroic measures: Living wills. Economy and ethics in medicine: the choices.
Recommended readings
P. Cattorini: Bioetica. Metodo ed elementi di base per affrontare problemi clinici.
S.Spinsanti. Bioetica e Nursing. Ed McGraw-Hill
