“These are exciting times to be working in health care and studying health care policy and ethics. The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act changes the shape of health care delivery in the U.S., bringing autonomy and justice to the forefront”
Omaha, NE (PRWEB) August 07, 2012
The treatment of the dying is an important topic in health care today. Helen Chapple, Ph.D., a faculty member teaching in Creighton University’s online Master’s in Health Care Ethics, is at the forefront of research into redefining and improving end-of-life care.
Professor Chapple, who came to Creighton in 2007 after 20 years as a clinical nurse, became interested in how the American health care system handles dying while earning her Ph.D. in Anthropology and a Master’s in Clinical Ethics. Her dissertation was an ethnographic study comparing dying in two hospitals. Additionally, in 2010, Dr. Chapple published a book on the topic titled No Place for Dying: Hospitals and the Ideology of Rescue, which was published by Left Coast Press.
Most recently, Dr. Chapple has been working with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska and the Nebraska Academy of Family Physicians researching end-of-life care in Nebraska and leading a state-wide initiative designed to improve the experience of dying for people in Nebraska across settings. One project the group is considering is adoption of the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Paradigm Program, designed to improve the quality of end-of-life care through better communication and documentation across the state. As a result of her work, a steering committee has been formed to research current conditions and particular needs in end-of-life care for people in Nebraska.
"These are exciting times to be working in health care and studying health care policy and ethics,” says Dr. Chapple. “The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act changes the shape of health care delivery in the U.S., bringing autonomy and justice to the forefront."
The online Master of Science in Health Care Ethics is an interdisciplinary program that educates health care professionals and others in related fields about issues in an increasingly complex field, touching on historical, cultural, philosophical, political, economic and legal aspects of an area also known as bioethics. For more information about the online Master’s in Health Care Ethics, go to online.creighton.edu or call 866.717.6365.
About Creighton University
Creighton University, a Catholic, Jesuit institution located in Omaha, Neb., enrolls more than 4,200 undergraduate and 3,500 professional school and graduate students. Nationally recognized for providing a balanced educational experience, the University offers a rigorous academic agenda with a broad range of disciplines, providing undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs that emphasize educating the whole person: academically, socially and spiritually. Creighton has been a top-ranked Midwestern university in the college edition of US News & World Report magazine for more than 20 years. For more information, visit our website at http://www.creighton.edu.