CHA to host Dr Carol Taylor visit in February 2018

Catholic Health Australia (CHA) is delighted to announce that eminent theologian and ethicist Dr Carol Taylor will be returning to Australia in 2018 to offer her expertise in a variety of settings.

Dr Taylor is a founding member and previous director of the Centre for Clinical Bioethics, a senior research scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, and professor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Many CHA members will have become acquainted with Dr Taylor on previous visits.

The main purpose of her visit on this occasion is to present Session Four of CHA’s Ministry Leadership Program (MLP). The theme of that session is Response to Suffering, a topic germane to her passion and life’s work. Following the MLP session, Dr Taylor has kindly agreed to extend her time in Australia in order to host a public seminar on the theme, ‘Inspired by Pope Francis – organisational identity and integrity in a changing world’.

The seminar will explore two key areas. The morning is expected to focus on Suffering, dying and individual autonomy topics, covering hope, hopelessness and supporting good dying; voluntary assisted dying – implications for a Catholic agency; and a pastoral response and the role of conscience. The afternoon session will explore the topic Providing care in a diverse world, and examine supporting patient autonomy and managing organisational responsibility; and care and inclusiveness for LGBTIQ people – patients, parishioners, employees.

Dr Taylor’s professional and research interests align with many of these key issues. Her research interests include moral distress, hope and hopelessness, and the ethical implications of voluntary assisted dying. She works closely with health care professionals who are exploring the ethical dimensions of their practice. At Georgetown, Dr Taylor directs an innovative ethics curriculum grounded in a rich notion of moral agency for advanced practice nurses. Dr Taylor chose doctoral work in philosophy with a concentration in bioethics because of a passion to “make health care work” for those who need it.

While Dr Taylor is an eminent theologian with a distinguished academic career, she also has extensive experience in caring for chronically and critically ill patients and their families in her past professional life as a nurse. She has authored over a hundred books, including the seminal ‘Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Nursing Care’.
The seminar will be held on Thursday 15 February 2018, 9.30 am to 4.30 pm, at Australian Catholic University’s Fitzroy Campus in Melbourne. CHA is delighted that ACU is sponsoring this important and highly relevant event.

The public seminar will be a very worthwhile investment in professional development for health, aged care and social services organisation executives; clinicians; managers; mission leaders; ethicists and pastoral practitioners; clergy, parish pastoral associates; academics and nursing professionals; and anyone else with an interest in her themes.

For more information about the Ministry Leadership Program (MLP) or any Pathways initiatives, please do not hesitate to contact: Susan Sullivan: Director, Mission Strategy at susans@cha.org.au or phone 02 6203 2777.