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The following ethics dilemma is given below: Alan works as a psychologist in a major hospital. Paperwork on a recent admission shows that a traumatic event (she was attacked in the street) caused one...

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The following ethics dilemma is given below:

Alan works as a psychologist in a major hospital. Paperwork on a recent admission shows that a traumatic event (she was attacked in the street) caused one of their mental health patients to require an adjustment in the medication she is prescribed to control anxiety, mood swings and aggressive behaviour. Alan is struck by the patient’s unusual last name and upon checking her employment information realizes she is one of his daughter’s grade school teachers.

Alan’s daughter seems very happy in her school although she mentions that her teacher is “bossy” and he cannot violate patient confidentiality by informing the school of a teacher’s mental illness and aggressive behaviour. He is unsure whether his daughter’s teacher has informed the school about her mental illness and he is not comfortable with a potentially unstable person in a position of influence and supervision over his eight year old daughter.

Required:

(i) Identify relevant ethical issues

(ii) Explain each ethical issue in detail

(iii) Identify and explain implications of these issues

(iv) Integrate valid and current research

(v) Use the Australian Psychological Society Code of ethics, ethical guidelines and ethical decision making model

Answered Same Day Sep 14, 2020

Solution

Prateek answered on Sep 15 2020
149 Votes
Running Head: ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN HEALTH CARE            1
ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN HEALTH CARE    7
ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN HEALTH CARE
Table of Contents
1.    Identification of relevant ethical issues.    3
2.    Explanation of ethical issues.    4
3.    Identification and implication of ethical issues.    6
4.    Ethical Decision    8
References    9
1. Identification of relevant ethical issues.
Ethics is the
anch of philosophy that deals with study of behavior and identify the morally wrong and right conduct. It is a tool which is used to make sure that people act responsibly and in the maximum interest of all the concerned stakeholders. The code of ethics and other related ethical principles are used to solve the ethical dilemma situations to ensure that any issue is resolved in just and moral manner (Chadwick & Gallagher 2016).
In the given situation issue here following are some of the ethical dilemmas. Firstly, the confidentiality clause of the hospital, where doctors are asked to maintain the privacy of their patients. Should Alan maintain the confidentiality of the teacher and not risk her employment and career, or should he inform the school authorities about her illness and save the possible ‘bad’ consequences on her daughter and other children. Secondly, should Alan consult his seniors or more experienced people in his organization to take better and informed decision in the interest of everyone.
Thirdly, should he first analyze and confirm the severity of the problem of the teacher before taking the extreme step of informing the school about her problem. Fourthly, should he change the school of her daughter to save her from the potential problem she could face from her teacher because of aggressive behavior of her teacher. Fifth, should he reassign the case to some other colleague because of the possible conflict of interest in this situation.
2. Explanation of ethical issues.
Maintaining the Confidentiality and Privacy of the patient
Psychologists are required to safeguard the confidential information in recording, accessing, storage and dissemination of problem. As per the guidelines of the Australian psychological society guidelines, they can disclose confidential information, only under some special circumstances, which include an instance when there is an immediate or specified risk of harm to any one of the identifiable people, and the same can be averted only by disclosing information. The risk may not be immediate or specified for the information to be disclosed. In the given issue, as there is possibility of harm or risk to the school students, therefore the confidential information about the illness of the patient needs to be disclosed to the concerned authorities (Australian Psychological Society 2014). 
Consult seniors or more experienced person
Sometimes it is advisable to consult more experienced colleague about the situation who may have handled the similar situation in the past. However, consultation process must be done in the most ethical manner possible. Firstly, the identity of the client must be concealed, and client’s consent must also be obtained to inform them who all will have access to their private information. It is also necessary to obtain an undertaking from the recipients of the information that they will secure the...
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