This workplace study examined the every day ethical dilemmas of a multidisciplinary
team in one acute psychiatric setting and the social factors affecting their moral domain
of practice. The research design was a case study involving both qualitative and
quantitative data. The context that shaped the team's process of ethical dilemma
identification was conceptualised for the purpose of this research within a systems
theory framework of interrelated factors at a societal, organisational and clinical level
with ethics theory pervading the entire scene.
The findings indicated that dilemmas arose in situations concerning patient care, team
strain, and limited resources with the most common dilemma across disciplines arising
from lack of community resources. Further findings suggested that clinicians were
aware of various forces shaping practice but these ideas were not well connected
conceptually.
Staff felt wary of identifying ethical dilemmas because they were unsure of the process
and sensed a reticence in the unit's social processes around negotiation and problem
solving. Important social factors that were perceived to affect their abilities around
ethical dilemma identification included rational economics, professional socialisation,
medical-legal monopoly with a concomitant use of the ethic of justice, and managerial
strategies. The concept of transference and countertransference issues within the
staffing group was explored.
These results are useful for the team to understand the nature of their own particular
dilemmas and what factors constrain and enhance their abilities to identify dilemmas.
Other health care settings may find that replication of the research results in a similar
way may raise awareness of their moral situation. Generalisability at a theoretical level
contributes to the current research agenda in applied ethics about the effect of context in
the ethical domain of clinical practice.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/219460 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Williams, Jenny, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Professional & Community Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Jenny Williams |
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