Life, as we all know, does not follow a book or set of rules, anything that can happen may happen. There will come times when things go not according to even the best laid plans. The dilemma I will speak of is one of a moral and ethical issue. You are a social worker sent to check on a client and have her sign some papers for your organization. You know she is in a wheel chair, but do not know her full situation. When you arrive, she lets you in and you start to do the business you came for. She tells you she needs to use the bathroom but cannot do this without assistance and her health care aid is not due to arrive for another three and a half hours.
This is not part of your job. She also tells you if she was to call her aid in early to help, then her aid will have to leave before the aid can make her dinner and put her to bed. The county and state have only allowed her a certain amount of care hours per day. You have not completed what you were sent there to do and the paperwork the client was to sign needs to be turned in by four today, and it is now two-thirty. You can either assist her yourself so that you may continue to discuss your business with her or she can have a neighbor assist her. This would cause you to stop what you are doing though because you cannot legally discuss her case in front of the other person.
[...] The code of ethics does not clearly state if this is a covered dilemma. According to the text in Appendix when conflicts arise, social workers are to make a responsible decision to resolve the problem without going outside the values, principles, or standards which are in the code (Schissler Manning p. 280). If a reasonable resolution does not seem possible the social worker must talk to the correct person or take the proper steps before making a decision. Section 1.07 of the code talks of the client's right to keep their information private except in the case another person needs the information to better help the client's needs. [...]
[...] d.). Retrieved from U. S. Department of Health & Human Services: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/administrative/index.html Schissler Manning, S. (2003). Ethical Leadership in Human Services: A Multi- Dimensional Approach. Allyn and Bacon. Thacker, S. B. (2003, April 11). HIPAA PRivacy Rule and Public Health. [...]
[...] The dilemma I will speak of is one of a moral and ethical issue. You are a social worker sent to check on a client and have her sign some papers for your organization. You know she is in a wheel chair, but do not know her full situation. When you arrive, she lets you in and you start to do the business you came for. She tells you she needs to use the bathroom but cannot do this without assistance and her health care aid is not due to arrive for another three and a half hours. [...]
[...] I know they cannot set a standard for or mention every situation which could occur, so this is the best I believe they could do to prepare a social worker on how to handle things which are not mentioned. In conclusion, I believe the code was written well by saying proper respect and discretion should be used when handling a conflict. There is no way it could include every scenario of conflict which could happen. Most of the time, it will become a matter of using the best judgment, and taking the right precautions or steps while you make this decision. References Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America. (n. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
