The Ethical Dilemma In Physician Assisted Suicide

Physician assisted suicide is suicide with the assistance of a physician. This involves the doctor helping to end a patient's life knowing with proper consent. Social workers who specialize and work with terminally ill patients often see this cases time to time. Social workers will have to put their beliefs and emotions away and help provide the best decision for their client. The ethical dilemma in this case study is Ava, the counselor, deciding whether she believes John has all of the information he needs to make a decision of ending his life. She wants to be completely sure his decision is not based on his emotional state. Questioning someone's ability to make a life or death decisions about their own life causes an ethical dilemma. Nonetheless,
Ava has a role of consular to put6 his best interest first with weighing all options. Thus, Ava has a role to to help John in identify the end-of-life options available to him. Based on the NASW Code of Ethics principle, Ava should follow the ethical principle social workers that respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person. It’s important that social workers promote their client's socially responsibility to self-determination and help them seek their enhance capacity and opportunity to change and to address their own needs (Code of ethics, Dignity and Worth of the
Deciding that I will influence John to search for alternatives to suicide stems from my personal values on life. If John were to tell me he just found out he is terminally ill, has 6 months to live, and is seriously considering ending his life, I would encourage him to take a second and take it all in. John could be possibly acting on emotions and may change his mind after thinking and talking it over. As a social worker I can not promote any particular means to end one’s life, however, I should be open to the idea of the issues and care options. In addition, I am free to or not to participate in end-of-life discussions or assisted suicide discussions (Chapter 11, slide 9). In addition, the code of ethics states social workers can limit client’s right to self-determination when the professional judgment of the social worker or client’s actions poses a serious, foreseeable, and imminent risk to themselves or others (Code of ethics, 1.02). Suicide doesn't just affect one person, it affects all. According to Teresa Yao, suicide negatively affects others beyond the individual himself, such as family members and friends (Yoa, 2016). I do not encourage physician assisted suicide or any suicide, however, I do not have the right to decide if someone should live or