Ethical Dilemmas Of Confidentiality In The Workplace

Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise that limits access or places restrictions on certain types of information. A major ethical dilemma that is prevalent within school districts is confidentiality within school social work. There is the concern of how much information is acceptable to share with other school personnel, in order to provide the most effective services for that client.
There are numerous principles that need to be taken into account, when analyzing what information is deemed appropriate to share regarding a client. “[School] social workers should respect clients’ right to privacy. Social workers should not solicit private information from clients unless it is essential to providing services or conducting social
The first option is to making sure to practice healthy and thorough communication. It is essential to be open and honest with clients. Healthy communication will help a client fully understand and be informed on the situation and possible outcomes. Open communication can be delivered through verbal and non-verbal interactions. It is important to recognize one’s own body gestures, body language, facial expression, and eye contact. Nonverbal communication also relates to intent of a message. Examples of intent are voluntary, intentional movements like shaking a hand or placing a hand on the shoulder for comfort. Verbal communication is determined through tone and pitch of voice. It is important that delivery of information is spoken with a sense of calmness and easiness, rather than with a worrisome demeanor. Using these techniques will minimize miscommunication or distrust of a client. Acceptance is another alternative solution; however, "(school) social workers must accept that they cannot offer their (students) absolute confidentiality" (Kopels & Kogle, 1994 p.1). Instilling this concept will help the school social workers decision making on taking the appropriate steps with a client. The last alternative that would be effective is proper documentation. Being thorough with the confidential information regarding who was involved, and verbatim quotes to what was said, would be a helpful practice. This
One consequence would be the possible loss of the trust of a client. Regardless if a social worker thoroughly communicates the expectations, a client may be adamant about specific information not being shared. If the client expresses that he/she wants to harm themselves, but wants to keep that information confidential, by law the social worker must report. There is the possibility of the client losing trust with the social worker, but reporting this information is vital for the best interest of the client. A positive result of documentation of happenings would be that the social can look back and analyze the details. Documentation is a resourceful way to trace your steps and help lessen confusion with the client and