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Ethical decision making & moral judgment
Ethical decision making & moral judgment
Ethical decision making & moral judgment
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Ethic’s Paper When dealing with an ethical dilemma, social workers usually reference back to Reamers 7-step process to help with ethical decision-making. In the given case study, we meet Lori a bright fourteen-year-old who is smart, involved in school activities, and sports. She has had a non-normative impacted life since she was young, such as her mother dying of breast cancer and father dying as well. She has no immediate family and was lucky enough to be placed in a foster home with a family who loves her and wants the best for her. A few months ago, she was diagnosed with leukemia and has been receiving Chemotherapy. The doctors have confessed that the Chemo has not had any impact, and found a donor match for a bone marrow transplant. …show more content…
At this point we consider the different ethical theories and how to understand the situation. I believe Erickson’s theory that explains the eight different stages of life that contribute to development would help explain why Lori is not at the right age to make such a complex decision. Since Lori is only 14, she would fall in adolescent stage where identity is at confusion and she has not fully matured yet. At this stage of Lori’s life this theory helps her explain that although Lori may think she is mature her cognitive thinking is probably not at its full capacity and needs help with such a difficult …show more content…
No one should ever just let their self-die if they have the option of living. He also mentioned that if she is a teenage girl probably going through puberty and may already be stressed out from that and the medication she is already taking. In step six we must, “ Make the decision and document the decision-making process” (p.166). As I did my research and decided what was morally correct to do in this situation, I decided Lori should have the bone marrow transplant done. I do not think she is at the right stage of life to make a life or death decision, when we have the option of saving her life. There are too many parties that feel that this option is the best one and want to at least try to help her. At this point, we can say we tried and if it does not work we never gave up on her. Lastly, in step seven we “monitor, evaluate, and document the decision” (p.166). As I made my personal decision, it is not the final decision. Next Thursday, the physicians, foster parents, myself, and Lori will all meet to determine what decision will be made for Lori to receive or not to receive the bone marrow transplant. This will give everyone time to research and determine what decision they think is best for Lori, and be able to explain
In the social work practice, social workers should abide by and respect the protocol of their particular organization. The first ethical standard I would like to discuss is that a social worker having cultural competence and social (NASW, 1999). A social worker must possess the knowledge of values, customs, tradition and history just to name a few in order to have success with clients that may identify as something other than their own identity. Culture directs impacts human behavior. Within this case study, due to Mrs. Sanchez’s culture, she struggled to assimilate with the American culture and this included her being able to learn the English language. Her culture was very important to her and I respect that. As a social worker, I would have
This is a fascinating case because it presents the distinction between a patient’s right to refuse treatment and a physician’s assistance with suicide. Legally, Diane possessed the right to refuse treatment, but she would have faced a debilitating, painful death, so the issue of treatment would be a moot point. It would be moot in the sense that Diane seemed to refuse treatment because the odds were low, even if she survived she would spend significant periods of time in the hospital and in pain, and if she didn’t survive she would spend her last days in the hospital. If Diane were to merely refuse treatment and nothing else (as the law prescribes) than she would not have been able to avoid the death which she so dearly wanted to avoid.
Eleven days after the transplant, Rebecca is released from the hospital, and she is excited to be returning home. Four days after Rebecca returns home, she calls to check on her friend Graham and she is upset when she finds out he has passed away. Rebecca returns to Dr. Vose for a checkup and he delivers good news. One year after treatment, Rebecca's lymph node is back to its normal size(Perl,1995).
...t’s family should be able decide for the patient whether or not prolonging their life is moral.
A law is a rule of conduct or action, required (governments endorse laws) to maintain order and public safety in case of a breakdown of law. The criminal & civil law is applied to health-care practitioners or providers, if criminal wrongdoing or negligence occurred in patient’s care. Ethics or moral values serve as the basis for ethical conduct. Our societal values, Family, and cultural values help form an individual’s moral value (Pozgar, 2014, p. 217). The Pozgar further suggests that the healthcare executives needs to understanding the development of law, sources of law, the meaning of different terms to effectively handle change in environment due to frequent policy implementations.
This paper will evaluate and analyze an ethical dilemma that was presented in the textbook and the Case Study #1 that will be evaluated for this assignment. The questions that will be answered include what are the ethical dilemmas in the case and are these legitimate concerns for the social worker. In addition, when evaluating and analyzing the ethical dilemma in this case study it is necessary to look at why the social worker is worried about reporting newborns and why she feels that there are injustices and discrimination that come from these policies. Furthermore, as a social worker in this agency I would respond by figuring out what could be done in this situation and what courses of action could be done to change the injustices in the
Though there are several patients featured, the story centers around Cody Curtis, a woman who was diagnosed with liver cancer. At 56, she is a beautiful woman who doesn’t appear to be sick. She seems healthy and happy. However she is in constant pain and is suffering greatly. She is given a diagnosis of only six months left to live and sets a date to choose to die. She has complete control over when she will die. She can make peace with those around her and complete her life before she dies. She says that death with dignity won’t be easy, but it would be easier than the alternatives. However, she outlives her diagnosis and her quality of life continues to improve. When things take a turn for the worst, she decides to end her
582). Ethical decision making is defined as “The process of choosing between actions based on a system of beliefs and values” (Black, 2014, p. 347). The nurse handling the ethical problem must first identify that there is in fact a problem. The second step is to acquire all of the required information related to the current situation. The third step is to come up with multiple choices and options to solve the ethical problem. The fourth step is to actually pick one of the choices utilizing sound ethical judgement. The fifth step would be to enact the made decision. The final step in the process is to reassess your decision and look for effectiveness and
In “ Sounding Board Death and Dignity, A Case of Individualized Decision Making” by Timothy E. Quill talks about a patient of his named Diane. An ordinary person but has struggled with alcoholism and depression. Quill then, with vigorous testes, finds out she has acute leukemia. Now knowing this, Quill and other doctors advised Diane about undergoing treatment as soon as possible. But she refused and just wanted to go home and be with her family. Though at this time she was not experiencing any suffering as ...
A situation from my practicum where I may experience an ethical dilemma is if I needed to visit a patient I knew. If a patient was identified as potentially having social work needs and I knew them personally it may be uncomfortable for them to discuss sensitive issues, especially if I wasn’t aware of the issues prior to reading their medical history. The patient may not be as honest with me because they wouldn’t want an acquaintance to know about sensitive subjects they are experiencing. The agency requires a social worker to visit patients that lack support, are low-income, have a history of substance use, or a mental illness. Visiting these patients is consistent with the social worker’s responsibility to clients.
As almost a last resort, his doctors wanted him to try a stem cell transplant. Still,
The Ethical Decision Making Model is an ethical guideline that is useful in ethical dilemmas and what course of action to take. It’s a framework that allows professionals to analyze and make ethical decisions to the best of their ability. It gives counselors a protocol to determine the appropriate course of action when faced difficult challenge. These decisions are taking into account; reflect a concern for the interests and the well-being of all clients concerns. Counselors should keep in mind the Golden Rule: “Do onto others as you would want onto you”.
diagnosed with a disease that forces her to slow down and realize that the most important things
The social work profession and its Code of Ethics dictate that social workers must act in the best interest of the client, even when those actions challenge the practitioner’s personal, cultural and religious values. In practice; however, ethical decision-making is more complex than in theory. As helping professionals, social workers are constantly faced with ethical decision-making or ethical dilemmas. As noted by Banks (2005), an ethical dilemma occurs “when a worker is faced with a choice between two equally unwelcome alternatives that may involve a conflict of moral principles, and it is not clear what choice will be the right one” (as cited in McAuliffe & Chenoweth, 2008, p. 43). In addition, ethical decision-making is a process that
Wouk, Henry. Organ Transplants. Ed. Megan Comerford, Joyce Stanton, and Christine Florie. New York: Cavendish Square, n.d. Print.