[PRAGMATIC TURN IN HEALTHCARE ETHICS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR TRAINING]

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Medical Ethics
• Healthcare Ethics Education

Context:

• Increasing complexity in healthcare practices necessitates a re-evaluation of ethical approaches.
• Traditional ethical discourse often focuses on moral judgment rather than practical application.
• Current ethical training may not adequately prepare practitioners for novel, context-specific challenges.

Purpose:

• To propose a shift from an ethical competence model to an ethical capacitation model.
• To explore how capacitation can foster autonomous, responsible, and critical action in healthcare.
• To advocate for experiential, reflexive, and situational learning in ethics education.

Summary:

• The study critiques the limitations of 'ethical competence,' which focuses on re-mobilizing existing knowledge.
• It introduces 'ethical capacitation' as a framework to develop the capacity for initiating new, contextually relevant actions.
• This paradigm shift redefines ethics education from 'knowing how to do' to developing the 'power to do' within complex healthcare environments.

Impact:

• Enhances the ability of healthcare professionals to act ethically in complex, unpredictable situations.
• Promotes a more dynamic and responsive approach to ethical decision-making in healthcare.
• Fosters greater practitioner autonomy, responsibility, and critical engagement with ethical dilemmas.