End Of Life Care Ethics Case Study

John found out that he was terminally ill and had 6 months to live, he tells his counselor Ava that he is considering end of life decisions. Ava is worried that her client might not have all the information needed or is in the right place mentally to make a decision. Ava is concerned that her client do not have a definite plan or basic information needed to make a decision. Ava’s action here were not ethical based on the Code of Ethics and the Ethical Principle Screen.

Ava it seems had John’s best interest at heart. However, as a human service worker she did not actively provide her client with the necessary information needed. Telling John that he needs more information and that he might not be in the right mindset is different from actually

In particular, standard five that deals with Attitude/Self-Awareness states, “Social workers in palliative and end of life care shall demonstrate an attitude of compassion and sensitivity to clients, respecting clients’ rights to self-determination and dignity. Social workers shall be aware of their own beliefs, values, and feelings and how their personal self may influence their practice” (National Association of Social Workers, 2004, standard 5, attitude/self-determination). Ava did not respect John’s self-determination she did not portray a healthcare worker that was sensitive to her client’s needs and dignity in his moment of weakness. To emphasize, she just told him to obtain more information. In that moment, compassion and respect for John’s decision would have been the best.

According to ethical principle three, Ava’s actions were not ethical. Ethical principle three focuses on fostering a person’s self-determination, autonomy and freedom, it states that “ A social worker should make practice decisions that foster a person’s self-determination, autonomy, and freedom, his right to and ability to make his or her own decision” (Dolgoff et al., 2012 p. 81). Here, the ethical principle was violated, as Ava did not want to believe that John was making the right decision while in his emotional

According to the book, the NASW policy on end of life decisions states, “Decisions regarding end-of life care should be considered numerous times during a person’s life, not just at the diagnosis of a terminal illness or in an acute, life threating event” (Dolgoff et al., 2012 p.222 ). Based on this another worker would encourage their client to rethink their decisions right after a terrible news is never a great idea. Ethical principle three states, “ A social worker should make practice decisions that foster a person’s self-determination, autonomy, and freedom…Freedom, though highly important, does not override the right to life or survival of the clients” (Dolgoff et al., 2012 p.81). When the client is making decisions based on life and death the social worker has to be obligated to intervene as ethical principle 1 takes precedence (Dolgoff et al., 2012 p.81), which states that the protection of life applies to all persons, even John in this