Order Description

select the scenario that may be representative of a role their
own health professional discipline can be involved in the ethical dilemma and compare
and contrast their duties in the chosen scenario to the duties of one other health care
professional. If students are studying in a course that is a dual degree, they can focus
on their two professional specialties for this assessment task. Please limit references to no older than 5 years (2012) and only peer reviewed resources. The essay should be 2,000 words or can be 10% under 2,000 or 10% over 2,000.

Discuss the conflicting ethical principles in relation to
– Professional codes of ethics, codes of conduct and position statement
– The ethical theories and principles relevant to the case study
– Human dignity and human rights

Case study:
Cindy is a social worker on an adolescent mental health unit. She has been working with a 15 year-old
client, Ben, who was admitted as an outpatient following a suicide attempt 3 months ago. On one
occasion, Ben tells Cindy that he is involved in a sexual relationship with a 30 year old man; he explains
that he is happy with this arrangement even though he worries that his parents will find out. Cindy
continues to see Ben each week but has not mentioned Ben’s situation to other team members;she
believes thatshe will be able to help Ben arrive at a decision, independently, to terminate the
relationship. Besides,she finds it rewarding to work with clients like Ben who,she believes, really need
her help.

Paragraph 1:
Ethics can be defined as moral principles that guide actions and behaviour. It is choosing the right thing to do in situations and having concern for human-flourishing and wellbeing (Grainger & Ozolin?s?, 2015). All professional practices are required to have a code of ethics that help guide them in making decisions that will lead to the best outcome for those involved. As Cindy is a social worker and currently working in the adolescent mental health unit, it is her duty and responsibility to maintain the ethics associated with general health care, and those specific to her social work profession. One of Cindy’s outpatients is a 15-year-old boy named Ben who was admitted following a suicide attempt 3 months ago. At one point throughout Cindy’s interactions with Ben, he informs her that he is involved in a sexual relationship with a 30-year-old man. Ben reassures Cindy that he is happy with his arrangements with this man, however he is afraid that his parents will find out. This raises an ethical issue for Cindy, as that kind of relationship between a minor and an adult is illegal. If Cindy was not in the healthcare profession and was simply just a citizen, by law she must adhere to the mandatory reporting requirements in Victoria based on the children, youth and families act established in 2005. This is where any adult that has suspicion or belief that a sexual offence has been committed against a child under the age of 16 by another person that is 18 or over, must report the incident otherwise withholding the information becomes a criminal offence (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2017). However, since Cindy is not just a citizen, her social work profession has other legal binaries against the confidentiality of her patients and this is where the ethical debate is established (Epstein & Turner, 2015). Cindy chose to continue seeing Ben weekly without reporting the incident to another team member as she aimed to help Ben terminate his relationship independently, maintaining his confidentiality in the process. Potential reasons for why Cindy did not choose to consult her colleagues and follow her code of ethics may have been due not knowing if she was able to discuss Ben’s confidential information. Secondly, Cindy may have had the intent of not wanting to get the police or services involved with Ben and his family, sparing them the trauma of the investigation. Finally, benefiting herself as she finds it personally rewarding to work with clients that she believes, really need her help.
Paragraph 2:
The action that Cindy decides to take regarding the information that she has been given, should be based around her obligations and duty as a healthcare professional. The purpose of a social workers code of conduct and ethics is to guide decision making in situations such as the one that Cindy is in, so that the best outcome can be achieved for the person involved. Therefore, by law the ethical theory that should be applied to Cindy’s current situation is deontology. Deontology can be defined as actions and decisions based on rules and justified reasons. This means that by sticking to the suggested guidelines that have been developed for Victorian Social workers, Cindy should have reported the incident to someone in her corresponding team to take further action on the situation. However, this theory has been challenged by many for lacking moral worth as it suggests that decisions should be made overlooking affection, compassion and concern (Mallia, 2015). Hence why Cindy may not have followed this theory in an attempt protect Ben and his family as she believed that she could resolve the issue another way. Furthermore, Cindy chose to adhere to the ethical theory of virtue which can be defined as acts that are based around thoughts and feelings rather than just following rules as deontology does or only considering the consequences as consequentialism does. Such characteristics of this include empathising and relationship building, of which Cindy appears to present (Misselbrook, 2015). Evidentially, Cindy expresses majority of the positive social work characteristics throughout her duration of care for Ben including benevolence, kindness, gentleness and respectfulness to name a few. This can be concluded as she has Ben’s best interest by respecting that he is content with his situation. This is also proven by her aim to take on an approach that is gentle and nourishing to help guide him better in the future as he is almost of legal consenting age. Although Cindy produces all of these positive attributes on how a social worker should behave and treat their patients, the situation is still a legal matter and she has not followed protocol or been true to her professional practice guidelines.
Paragraph 3 (Paragraph is incomplete) – Principles and how they conflict
• Mention human dignity and human rights
• Beneficence
• Non-maleficence
• Justice
• Respect for patient autonomy
• Respect for human dignity
• Veracity
• Respect for patient confidentiality
• Principles of double effect
• How they conflict
Helping, guiding and protecting those in her care that are not able to defend themselves such as her patient Ben, who is a minor and under the sexual influence of an older man should be Cindy’s main concern. The framework that should guide Cindy’s decision is that of Beauchamp and Childress’ 4 principles approach that outlines the main clusters of moral principles. That is respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice (Masters, 2014). The ethical dilemma here with Cindy however, is that some of these principles clash and create conflict with one another which can make following rules and making decisions more difficult and confusing. An example of where principles may conflict is explored within the first principle of respect for autonomy. This is respecting and not interfering with one’s decisions about themselves and their health if legally deemed competent, no matter of other professional or personal opinions or the intent of benefitting them (Kious, 2016). Cindy has respected Ben’s choice and acknowledged his right to hold views so therefore she has applied the respect for autonomy principle. However, she has simultaneously neglected the principle of beneficence as Ben is under legal consenting age and cannot be considered competent in making informed decisions for himself regarding his sexual activity.
Paragraph 4 – recommendations for professional practice, compare professions
• What are the goals of the health care intervention?
• Who benefits?
• Is the patient competent to consent?
• Does the patient understand the benefits and the risks of intervention and nonintervention?
• Has the patient consented
• Who’s the patient’s surrogate? (Next of kin)
• Has the patient provided advance directives?
• What are the plans in case of therapeutic futility?
• Is the patient’s refusal of treatment respected?
• Is actual care assured?
• Are there any identifiable conflicts of interest?
• Is the decision fair or just?
• Does the decision ensure loyalty to the patient?
• Is the patient’s dignity respected?