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TAGS: 2026 Ethics Symposium
Healthcare professionals caring for older adults frequently face complex ethical challenges involving autonomy, capacity, surrogate decision-making, and risk management. Variability in how these principles are interpreted across disciplines can lead to fragmented care, moral distress, and inconsistent outcomes. This annual TAGS Ethics Symposium equips participants with practical, interdisciplinary strategies to apply ethical decision-making frameworks confidently and consistently in real-world aging‑services settings. Through case-based learning and collaborative discussion, learners will strengthen their ability to integrate ethical, legal, and regulatory standards into cohesive, patient-centered care planning.
Target Audience
This live activity is intended for nurses, social workers, and physical therapists who practice in Texas.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this activity, participants should be able to:
1. Apply ethical decision-making frameworks to complex clinical scenarios involving older adults, including issues of capacity, autonomy, surrogate decision-making, and risk management.
2. Integrate legal, regulatory, and professional standards into interdisciplinary care planning to reduce liability risk and improve patient-centered outcomes.
3. Demonstrate interdisciplinary communication strategies that support ethical alignment, minimize moral distress, and promote collaborative resolution of conflicts among patients, families, and care teams.
Vanessa Hernandez
Christina Mauldin
Amanda Schmidt, MS, PT, DPT
Paige Wolk, LBSW, CDP
Tracy Cook-Pizzi, MSN, RN, CCM
Sara Egan, RN, BSN, CDP, CHPN, OCN
Melissa McFadden, D.O.
Amanda Schmidt, MS, PT, DPT
Karen Sholander, MT-BC
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Tarrant Area Gerontological Society and the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth 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. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit.
Texas Physical Therapy Association
This activity is offered by the Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, Accredited Provider #2711035TX and meets continuing competence requirements for physical therapist and physical therapist assistant licensure renewal in Texas. The assignment of Texas PT CCUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by TPTA or TBPTE.
Designation Statements
Nurses
This activity provides up to 5 contact hours.
Social Workers
Social Workers completing this course receive up to 5 contact hours of continuing education credits.
Physical Therapists
This course provides 5 contact hours for PTs and PTAs licensed in Texas. For successful completion, a participant must attend the program, complete the evaluation, and request credit online at the conclusion of the activity.
Ethics/Professional Responsibility Credit
The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth determined that this CME activity provides 5 hours towards the Texas State Board of Medical Examiner's standard, annual ethics/professional responsibility requirement.
Certificate of Attendance
The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth certifies this activity for 5 hours of participation.
Available Credit
- 5.00 ANCC
- 5.00 ASWB Credit
- 5.00 Ethics
- 5.00 HSC Participation
- 5.00 Physical Therapist (PT)
This activity is provided by the Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners Accredited Provider APS #: and meets continuing competence requirements for physical therapist and physical therapist assistant licensure renewal in Texas.