Reference no: EM133559089

Case Scenario: You are interning in one of the community hospital systems, that also serves as a trauma center for the surrounding community. One day you are shadowing a hospital social worker who is working with a female patient who arrived at the trauma center several days before due to a head-on collision involving the patient and another driver. The other driver was not injured. As you and the social worker you are shadowing complete the trauma assessment, you discover that the patient has a positive toxicity screen for alcohol and methamphetamines. Earlier in your assessment, you had learned that the patient works as a school bus driver for elementary school children. It seems that the morning of the accident, she was scheduled to work the morning of her accident and would have gone to work with alcohol and drugs in her system. What should the social worker do?

Questions: Use the following steps to decide the best course of action. *Remember that in this first scenario, you should refrain from using professional ethics or specific decision-making models or systems. Identify your own values and previous knowledge to guide you.

1. Identify and describe the ethical decision to be made in everyday language (no need for professional jargon). This scenario is a dilemma. A school board employee was involved in a head on collision the morning before school. The patient had drugs and alcohol in her system, which means that she would have when driving the bus full of elementary age children.
2. Describe any conflicts or dilemmas that are present. If there are no conflicts or dilemmas, describe how you know. The patient's need to be valued to tell her full story. The need of the potential children that may have been on a bus that she was driving.
3. Identify and discuss how you would go about making a decision. Which personal values would guide you? The social worker should make sure all qualified parties within the hospital are knowledgeable. My values would require me to break confidentiality and inform the school board as well. It is important being that this event occurred on a school morning. However, I would report, but set-up a treatment for the patient.
4. Identify and discuss all possible courses of action and how each would impact the parties involved. Report and provide a Treatment program for the patient. We could ignore. Report without regard of the patient. Not report to the school, but get the patient in to a treatment program.
5. Identify and discuss the best course of action, using justification based on your responses in #3 & #4. How does your decision align with guiding values and elevate outcomes for all parties?