Individuals in healthcare may experience unusual or emotionally charged situations with coworkers and clients, leading to ethical dilemmas. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, “Moral dilemmas arise when two or more principles or values conflict and there are mutually inconsistent courses of action.” Driftwood Recovery provides comprehensive training and staff support to help clinicians navigate ethical dilemmas with dignity and compassion.
5 Common Ethical Dilemmas in Healthcare and How to Address Them
Ethics is a cornerstone of good healthcare. Ethical guidelines protect clients and healthcare professionals from legal issues, ensuring people have access to relevant and appropriate care. Identifying and adequately addressing moral dilemmas improves treatment outcomes for clients and reduces workplace stress for clinicians. Below are five common ethical dilemmas encountered in healthcare and how professionals can manage them.
#1. Maintaining Client Privacy While Addressing Threats to Public Safety
Client privacy is essential to the therapeutic process. Ensuring confidentiality and privacy builds trust and confidence in the client-clinician relationship. However, some situations may make it challenging to maintain client privacy while balancing public health and safety. For example, clinicians may have to break confidentiality if a client expresses intent to harm themselves or others. Finding the right balance between ensuring public safety and maintaining client trust involves practicing good judgment. Driftwood Recovery has strict guidelines and protocols for managing client privacy and adhering to privacy laws. HIPAA and other laws ensure healthcare workers know when to break and when to protect client confidentiality.
#2. Informed Consent and Clients With Limited Capacity to Understand Treatment Options
The effects of chronic substance abuse, complex mental health issues, and developmental factors may impact a client’s capacity to understand their treatment options. Individuals with a decreased capacity to recognize their needs and identify effective treatment plans may have difficulty understanding their situation. Healthcare professionals are responsible for ensuring clients under their care give informed consent for treatment services. Some clinicians may struggle with determining if a client has the mental capacity to provide informed consent.
Ongoing assessments and ethical judgment help healthcare workers recognize when a client needs an advocate. Driftwood Recovery ensures all staff know how to identify the signs of a client’s capacity to give informed consent. In cases where clients may not be able to consent, the clinical team follows legal guidelines for working with client families or representatives to make the best decisions for their care.
#3. Refusal of Treatment Despite Severe or Life-Threatening Consequences
Individuals experiencing complex mental health issues, substance use disorder, or dual diagnosis may refuse treatment despite a high risk of relapse or self-harming behaviors. Mentally competent adults have the right to refuse treatment regardless of how this may affect their physical or emotional health. However, determining mental competency can sometimes be difficult and cause moral dilemmas for healthcare professionals.
Studies have shown that when “a patient’s illness is affecting their capacity to refuse care, and they are considered a danger to themselves or to others, the healthcare provider is expected to treat the patient regardless of their refusal.” Every state has different laws regarding involuntary treatment. Driftwood Recovery educates clinicians on state, local, and federal laws for treating patients who have refused care.
#4. Balancing Respect for Cultural Beliefs With Evidence-Based Care
Some people’s cultural beliefs may clash with evidence-based care, making it difficult to treat conditions impacting the client’s mental and physical health. Responding with compassion and curiosity instead of judgment can help healthcare professionals develop tailored approaches to care that meet client needs while respecting their cultural beliefs.
Mental health and addiction recovery experts balance respect for client cultural beliefs with evidence-based treatments by doing the following:
- Conducting cultural competency training
- Actively listening to client needs and preferences
- Collaborating with clients and their families to tailor treatment
- Using culturally appropriate assessment tools
- Providing access to bilingual counselors
- Encouraging family involvement in treatment
Healthcare professionals can respect cultural beliefs and stigmas surrounding treatment while gently introducing evidence-based modalities into treatment plans.
#5. Setting Professional Boundaries With Compassionate Care
Boundaries may become blurred sometimes, making it difficult for healthcare professionals to set limits on how they interact with clients. Professionals set clear boundaries with clients by doing the following:
- Defining professional roles at the start of treatment
- Maintaining consistent and clear communication
- Avoiding dual relationships, such as becoming a personal friend with therapy clients
- Practicing self-awareness and mindfulness during interactions with clients
- Consulting coworkers or supervisors if boundary issues become a problem
- Respecting client autonomy
Boundaries help clients avoid confusion or miscommunication during treatment. Maintaining a professional distance from clients while treating them with dignity and compassion improves the effectiveness of treatment services and helps clients learn to set their own healthy boundaries.
Mental health and addiction recovery programs involve many gray areas that may lead to ethical dilemmas for healthcare professionals. Strict workplace policies ensure staff members understand when they must legally report certain situations and how to react appropriately to moral dilemmas. Experts are humans, too, and may experience a lack of judgment. Comprehensive workplace guidelines help professionals know how to respond to various complex or sensitive situations. Driftwood Recovery trains staff to recognize and address potentially challenging interactions using compassion, objectivity, and transparency. Healthcare professionals benefit from relying on their supervisors and coworkers to help them navigate unusual issues that may have them worried about providing the best care to clients. To learn more about our policies, call (512) 759-8330.