Physical Therapy Category

Caring for the Sickest Patients Without Burning Out: Boundaries, Bias, and Clinical Sustainability

2 CE Hours
2 members have taken this course
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About the Course

Caring for patients with complex medical conditions, particularly those in the ICU and other high-acuity settings, requires clinicians to routinely make difficult decisions while balancing safety, function, quality of life, and system pressures. These environments place clinicians at increased risk for burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral distress, which can negatively affect clinical reasoning, team dynamics, turnover rates, and patient outcomes. This course explores practical, evidence-informed strategies to support clinician sustainability while maintaining high-quality, patient-centered care.

This multidisciplinary session is designed for rehabilitation and medical professionals, including physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, nurses, physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners, who work with medically complex or critically ill patients. Participants will examine how professional boundaries, implicit bias, and system-level expectations influence care decisions, team communication, and patient participation. The session emphasizes actionable tools that clinicians can immediately apply in acute care, ICU, step-down, inpatient rehabilitation, and medically complex outpatient environments to support both patient outcomes and long-term clinician resilience.

This course is based on the recorded webinar, Caring for the Sickest Patients Without Burning Out: Boundaries, Bias, and Clinical Sustainability created by Katelyn Whitlock, PT, DPT, MEd, CCS in 2026.

Publication Details

Publication Date: Originally presented as a live event May 5th, 2026

Presenter

Katelyn Whitlock, PT, DPT, MEd, CCS

Katelyn Whitlock is a faculty member in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Brenau University. She is a Board-Certified Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Clinical Specialist and currently practices as an physical therapist primarily in the CVICU. She currently serves as the co-chair of the PT in Critical Care Clinical Practice Guidelines committee. She earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree from Emory University in May 2018, followed by the completion of Emory’s Acute Care Residency in 2019. Prior to her DPT, she obtained both her bachelors and masters degrees in Exercise Physiology from the University of Virginia. She is passionate about ICU rehabilitation and outcomes especially for complex patient populations including mechanical circulatory support and ECMO. Dr. Whitlock is actively involved in research and has presented at local and national conferences on topics including ICU physical therapy, ECMO, advanced mechanical support, and COVID-19.

Katelyn Whitlock, PT, DPT, MEd, CCS authored the material only, and was not involved in creating this CE course. They are identified here for your own evaluation of the relevancy of the material this course is based on.

Target Audience

This webinar is intended for Physical Therapists, Physical Therapy Assistants, Occupational Therapists, and Occupational Therapy Assistants. (PT, PTA, OT, COTA)

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 List at least three contributors to burnout or moral distress that commonly occur when managing medically complex or critically ill patients.
  2. 2 Identify two examples of bias that can influence clinical decision-making related to medical/theraputic decision-making or prognosis in high-acuity populations.
  3. 3 Demonstrate two boundary-setting communication strategies that support both compassionate care and clinician sustainability during challenging patient or family interactions.

Disclosure to Learners

CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity – including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

Planners and Reviewers

The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Material Authors

There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

Montana Board of Physical Therapy Examiners

2 CE credit hours
Eligible until Dec 31st, 2028
CE Learning Systems (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Physical Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants.
More Info

New York State Education Department's State Board for Physical Therapy

2 CE credit hours
Eligible until Jul 16th, 2028
CE Learning Systems (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Physical Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants.
More Info
Course Materials

Video
Paid material

  • Caring for the Sickest Patients Without Burning Out: Boundaries, Bias, and Clinical Sustainability

    Enroll and start the course to view these materials.

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