In the case of an ethical dilemma I would refer to the ethical decision making steps and then using the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics to choose the best course of action. The dilemma I have witnessed in occupational therapy settings, and one I will probably encounter someday, is being asked to perform services outside of my licensure and scope of practice. The overlap between occupational therapy and physical therapy can be blurry, and sometimes parents will ask for services not within the occupational therapist’s scope of practice and doesn’t understand why they can’t just do it this time. Each profession has their own way of navigating ethical dilemmas, which are problems that don’t have a clear ethical/moral choice. The ethical decision …show more content…
Why does the parent not want to bring their child to the physical therapist? Are there barriers to access? Is there a financial, transportation, or individualistic issue that I cannot see, but is preventing the utilization of physical therapy? If they cannot afford or do not have access to physical therapy, but the child needs additional services, what can I do to incorporate an occupational therapy alternative? The welfare of the child is important and not allowing them to receive the therapy they deserve isn’t ethical; neither is performing physical therapy without a …show more content…
They may know of a local physical therapist who can take on this child’s case, or an occupational therapy technique that can accomplish that same goal. There is also a board in each state for occupational therapists to consult with when they encounter an ethical dilemma. I would meet with them to evaluate all the options, some of which I may not know about. This would leave right into step 6, looking into possible courses of action. The courses I could take are; do the practice anyway, refer the child to a physical therapist, or do an acceptable occupational therapy alternative that would accomplish the same
At times in a person’s life, they might come across a few situations that leave them with a major decision between two or more options that challenge what they believe or what they might think is wrong or right. These are known as ethical dilemmas. Be it seeing a friend steal something and choosing between being honest and speaking up or letting it go. It can also be getting paid more than you earned and deciding if you’re going to be greedy and keep the money or return it. We run into these situations in our lives, some bigger and more influential on our destiny’s while others are small with no real consequences.
Ethical decision-making is the responsibility of everyone, regardless of position or level within an organization. Interestingly, the importance of stressing employee awareness, improving decisions, and coming to an ethical resolution are the greatest benefits to most companies in today’s world (Weber, 2015).
An ethical issue or dilemma is a situation that is usually complex and it often involves an apparent mental conflict between moral imperatives. The moral imperatives must be obeyed resulting in transgressing another. When it comes to medical assisting, ethical issues frequently arise in health care according to the article on the ANM healthcare website. A medical assistant is an unlicensed support person who must work under the direction of a licensed professional and also may come upon ethical issues related to the field of practice. Ethical codes in the health care often derive from medical ethics in which they include expectations such as compassion, competency, and professionalism. “The AAMA Medical Assistant Code of Ethics requires medical
Parker, G. E., Solomon, J. W., & O’Brien, J. C. (2011). Pediatric health conditions. In J.W. Soloman & J. C. O’Brien (Ed.), Pediatric skills for occupational therapy assistants. (190-234). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Since ethical dilemmas are not always easily answered through the use of The Code of Ethics, ethical decision-making models are effective tools that can assist nurses in dealing with ethical issues. Ethical decision-making models provide a framework for working through difficult choices. They seek to define the limits of what is morally acceptable and help clarify the guidelines for making those difficult decisions. Ethical decision making models assist nurses in analyzing situations by focusing on understanding the patient needs, need for responsiveness to circumstantial considerations, and recognizing the uniqueness of each situation.
Furthermore, in nursing, professional may have to decide on a course of action that is ethically, legally and morally correct or acceptable by their society.
Physical Therapist (PT), are skilled health care practitioners that aim to improve movement, reduce pain and increase patient enjoyment of life. All while providing moral, legal and ethical care to patients. However, each of these requirements of practice are dictated by different entities. Meaning, that the requirements sometimes may or may not correlate with one another. Legally, therapist must abide by both state and national laws that are put in place for all health care professionals, in addition to those specific to the field of Physical Therapy. Whereas, ethical responsibilities may be dictated by the professional organizations and society norms. While morals vary according to different cultures and subcultures, making them specific
Occupational therapists (OTs) must take into consideration the four elements of informed consent when deciding whether a client can comprehend and provide informed consent for consent to treat, as required by HIPAA law (Slater, 2016). The four elements of informed consent include: providing the client with all the information on his or her condition and how a therapy treatment may look; assessing how well the client understands or will understand the information provided; assessing the client’s, or legal guardian’s, capability to make decisions on his or her care; and knowing the client will not be swayed when deciding on plan of care. With informed consent, the OT discloses every detail on the client’s therapy treatment to the client, so the
Physical therapy is one of the fastest successful occupations growing in the Unites States of America. It is unlike any other occupation in the medical field. Physical therapists care for patients of all ages who have functional problems and disorders. They work to increase a patient’s mobility, prevent further injury, and stabilize the progress of a patients’ health and wellness. The occupation of physical therapy is a very crucial and highly demanded job and will continue to expand in the future.
This type of ethical dilemma is common in physical therapy since many of the treatments involve patients to actively participate in the treatment instead of just passively receiving treatments as in surgery or massage therapy. According to a study done by UK National Health service, out of 361 physical and occupational therapists, only around one- third of them reported no ethical dilemma in the past six months (Barnitt, 1998). I...
The purpose of this paper is to explain the role of Physical Therapist in a School in providing indirect services (services which are not directed to children in the school) to teachers, parents, school educational staff, physicians, or any other service providers.1 The school based PT’s consults and educates them to help improve child’s physical environment, implement program planning, procure assistive devices, develop modification and accommodations for access and successful participation. 1 They even help integrate interventions and recommendations into child’s environment. 1 The PT’s also collaborate with other team members to facilitate wellness issues and disability awareness for the entire school population. 1
Ethics govern our relationships with others. Ethics and morals are very similar, in that both deal with questions of right and wrong. Societal or cultural norms determine ethical behavior whereas moral behavior depends on the individuals own sense to decide about what is right and wrong (Ethical Dilemma Scholarly Peer-review Journal, 2017). In nursing, ethical dilemmas are ethically controversial situations experienced through the healthcare professional’s obligation to inform the patients, support participation in patient decision making and patient advocacy. The goals of healthcare professionals are inherently ethical and involve protecting patients from harm while providing care that benefits them (Kim, Han & Kim, 2014).
The characteristics that most occupational therapist needs to work on with children on in early intervention and preschool settings are very different depending on the child’s disability. Some of the main aspects occupational therapists try to help young children with are motor control, sensory modulation, adaptive coping, sensorimotor development, social-environment development, and daily living skills. The child’s disability and what the child is have troubles with in education and everyday life determines what the occupational therapist needs to work with the child o...
Physical therapy is a more drastic help when the children are smaller. For them learning how to do things other small children do takes a little more time, For instance walking, learning how to play, and interacting with other children. (KidsHealth) It also helps them with normal activities like working on handwriting, dressing themselves and eating. Physical therapy has a huge benefit on the child because it helps so many different areas of his/ her life, like memory skills and learning how to be organized. (KidsHealth) There is no time limit for this process every child with Down syndrome is different and learns at there own pace. In a team of physical therapist there are several that could help a child like: pediatric rehabilitation, physical therapist, nurses, and special educators. They can also come to one’s house for some one on one time with the child....
An ethical dilemma is only examined in a situation which has the following conditions; the first condition takes place in a situation, when an individual has to make a decision on which course of action is best. The second condition is there must be more than one course of action to choose from. The third action is no matter what course of action is taken, certain ethical principles are conceded. In other terms, there is no perfect result. When defining what forms an ethical dilemma, it is important to make a division between ethics, morals, values, laws and policies.