Hawaii Jurisprudence and Ethics for Physical Therapists (2025–2026)
Presented by Ron Scott
Nonfinancial: Ron Scott has no competing nonfinancial interests or relationships with regard to the content presented in this course.
This course is approved by the Hawaii Board of Physical Therapy. You must take the course and pass the quizzes with an 80% average to receive an approved certificate. We check completions once a month. We send out approved certificates to the email on the account. For scores less than 80%, we send out communication to retake the learning assessment.
This course provides detailed coverage of Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), and ethics relevant to Hawaii PTs and PTAs. This course will cover the APTA’s Code of Ethics for the physical therapist, including the preamble and eight principles, and the five roles of a physical therapist. The course will explore how these principles play out in the day-to-day actions of the PT and PTA. The course will provide detailed coverage of the laws and rules for physical therapists in Hawaii so that they can operate lawfully and in compliance with state statutes.
Meet your instructor
Ron Scott
Dr. Scott is a health law attorney-mediator and educator. He is a faculty member at Rocky Mountain University, the University of Montana, Rehab Essentials, and MedBridge Inc. Dr. Scott’s principal teaching interests include healthcare ethics, law, management, and policy. He developed two widely utilized health professional…
Chapters & learning objectives
1. Orientation to the Course
This initial session orients participants to the course and to ethicolegal rights and duties of rehabilitation professionals at all levels.
2. Foundations of Professional Ethics and Ethicolegal Duties
This section dissects the preamble and APTA Code of Ethics to describe the professional behavior associated with each principle. The chapter provides examples of both acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Discussion of fiduciary duty and patient access to care services is included, as well as a discussion of problem-prone areas in health professional ethics affecting rehabilitation professionals.
3. Patient Autonomy
This section begins with a review of the four fundamental biomedical ethical principles guiding physical therapy practice: respect for patient autonomy over care-related decision-making, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Discussion naturally flows into exploration of patient informed consent, and the special informed consent issues affecting minors and incapacitated and minimally-conscious patients.
4. Hawaii HRS 461J: Practice of Physical Therapy, Prohibited Practices, Exemptions, Licenses and Board Powers, and License Actions
This section of the course reviews the practice of physical therapy as defined by 461J, including prohibited practices (e.g., dry needling). This chapter describes the board’s role and powers. The process of licensing is outlined to include differences between permanent and temporary licenses, as well as the sanctions of revocation, suspension, and probation. Discussion on exemptions to the practice act is included in this section. The chapter touches on how PTs can identify themselves by defining the titles and abbreviations that can be used.
5. Continuing Competence Requirements and License Statuses and Actions: HRS 461J-10.1 to 461J-10.15, 461-11 to 461-13, and Associated HRS 436 Sections
This section reviews the requirements for continuing competence, including authorized providers, content standards, and subject matter requirements. Also reviewed are the criteria to request an exemption, and record-keeping requirements for claiming continuing competency credit for renewal.
6. Supervision Duties and Minimum Standards, and Allowable Delegated Duties of the PTA and Auxiliary Staff
This chapter includes the rules regarding supervision of the PTA and auxiliary staff in the managing of care. This section covers the treatment and interventions that can be delegated to properly trained support staff. Included is the requirement pertaining to identification of personnel. This section also discusses common problem areas in supervision duties and delegation.
7. Case-Based Scenarios
In this chapter, several ethical and law-related scenarios are introduced and then discussed.
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