Social Work Influence on Interdisciplinary Ethical Decision Making in Health Care Settings

Abstract

Because of structural and philosophical changes in health care, social work practitioners are having to interact more with other practitioners in health care settings. Many of those interactions are interdisciplinary and often involve an understanding of the application of professional values and ethics. The authors have suggested that social workers' influence on ethical decision making is correlated directly to their ability to contribute to those decisions. In their study, the authors tested five independent variables and one dependent variable to show the factors that are related significantly to social workers' influence on ethical decision-making processes in multidisciplinary health care settings.

Does Ethics Education Influence the Moral Action of Practicing Nurses and Social Workers?

“…Although many reported continuing education programs or in-service education in ethics, a surprising number of practitioners, including 23% of the nurse respondents, reported having had no ethics education or training at all. Ethics education can help nurses and SWs and other healthcare workers not only determine the extent to which problems they encounter in practice are ethical problems, but can also help them define their own ethical values and beliefs, and help them develop tools and skills needed to tackle ethical problems (Allmark 2005;Csikai and Raymer 2005;Landau 2000;Joseph and Conrad 1989).…”

Perceptions regarding the use of physical restraints with elderly persons: comparison of Israeli health care nurses and social workers

“…These decisions are frequently accompanied by feelings of ambiguity, frustration, powerlessness and uneasiness, especially in nursing staff members (Hantikainen, 1998). A more extensive involvement of social workers as members of interdisciplinary teams may improve the process and reduce the above-mentioned negative feelings (Joseph & Conrad, 1989). However, to be effective, these teams should be based on collaborative models where the presentation, discussion and reconciliation of different opinions can be voiced, rather than on simply exchanging information between various disciplines.…”

“…Therefore, the role of social workers in interdisciplinary teams related to the quality of care of elderly persons is pivotal (Joseph & Conrad, 1989;Mellor & Lindeman, 1998); especially in situations in which the decisions involve cognitively impaired elderly persons and their families. Lately, researchers have turned their attention towards the importance of increasing family members' knowledge and understanding about the advantages and disadvantages of physical restraints (Kanski et al, 1996;Werner et al, 1993).…”

Expanding the Boundaries of Ethics Education: Preparing Social Workers for Ethical Advocacy in an Organizational Setting

“…Other studies have found that when social workers are involved in the ethics committee, their role tends to be more submissive (Csikai & Sales, 1998;Joseph & Conrad, 1989). Developing social work students' understanding of power and its uses (both direct and indirect) may help to demystify the concept.…”

“…Glen (1999) notes that "to be able to embrace cross-professional and interdisciplinary integrative approaches to individual and social values, members of each profession will need to be clear about their own professional values and communicate these honestly to the other groups" (p. 212). Fostering confidence and clarity in the social work role is especially important as social workers with a clear understanding of their role as a social worker are more likely to have influence in interdisciplinary ethical decision-making processes than those social workers who do not have a clear understanding (Joseph & Conrad, 1989). Adding the two new dimensions (steps four and five) to ethical preparation helps clarify the role of social workers and may better prepare social workers for the organizational and professional constraints that they are likely to encounter.…”