Legal and Ethical Issues and Breaches

To be able to work legally and ethically, you must be aware of potential legal and

ethical issues and breaches in the aged care sector. An issue, in this context, can be

something (a problem or a situation) that may be against the law or something

unethical. While a breach, as defined by Merriam Webster, is an act of breaking or

failing to observe a law, agreement, or code of conduct.

Below are legal and ethical issues and breaches that you need to be fully aware while

working in the aged care sector.

Legal Issues ad Breaches*

▪ abuse and neglect within the nursing home/residential aged care facility*

▪ discrimination and harassment of clients

▪ negligence of duty of care

records*

▪ non-compliance to legislative requirements such codes of practice, codes of

standards, etc.

▪ inadequate access by residents to medical and care records

▪ health related legal issues

▪ medication misuse

▪ vulnerability of older people to consumer fraud

Ethical Issues and Breaches*

▪ Absence of clear directives from the family that forces the Aged Care

facilities to make decisions, especially relevant to: hospitalisation,

intrusive/invasive intervention, etc.

▪ Ethical issues relevant to pain management

▪ Withholding or withdrawing treatment

▪ Palliative sedation

▪ Conflict of interest

▪ Support for client/family to make informed decisions, consent etc.

▪ Not informed of rights e.g. making a compliant or following through with

this

▪ Not been treated as an individual and supported to meet individualised

needs

*Note that some of the issues above

can have both legal and ethical

implications just as we previously

illustrated in our A, B, C, or D example

how an action can be both illegal and

unethical.

In the next parts, we will discuss about

Unethical Conduct and Conflicts of

Interest which are considered legal and

ethical issues and breaches.

Unethical Conduct

Unethical conduct or behaviour in aged care is an action

that falls outside of what is considered morally right or

proper for a person (e.g. a client, the care worker, a

(e.g. the service provider).

For a care worker, unethical conduct or behaviour is an

families/carers, their supervisors, the service provider,

and other persons. It is unethical conduct when his/her

actions are against or violates the Code of Ethics and

Guide to Ethical Conduct for Aged Care.

Examples of unethical conduct could include situations when:

a. A care worker is heard gossiping about a client with other care workers in the

facility.

b. A care worker is heard openly saying negative things about clients coming

from different cultural or linguistic backgrounds (CALD)

c. A care worker scolding and humiliating a client who just accidentally soiled

his beddings.

Reporting Unethical Conduct

What would you do if a co-worker does something similar to the examples provided

above? Your first option is to approach that co-worker in hopes of resolving the issue

through a discussion. However, if this is not successful, you will need to report this

to your supervisor or someone in higher authority.

In addition, you will need to answer the following questions as clearly and

objectively:

1. Who was or were involved?

2. When did the incident(s) occur?

3. Who else was present?

4. What was committed? How was the act unethical?

5. What other actions have you taken?

Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest happens when a worker or the care facility:

▪ is in a position to take advantage of a client,

▪ be influenced by their personal interests (e.g. financial)

▪ makes decisions in some way for their personal benefit.

Even when it is not intended, a conflict of interest can still exist. Example: A care

worker has been hired at a care facility where his relative is currently the director.

Even though he had the outstanding qualifications, other workers at the facility may

still doubt this. They might think that he was hired only because the director is his

relative.

Conflicts of interests may arise when part of a worker private life his/her political

views, personal relationships, financial interests, cultural or religious activities, etc.

may come

When workers believe that they have a potential or actual conflict of interest they

must inform management as soon as possible to rectify the situation.

Important! When reporting incidents such as these, you must

reporting. Your organisation may have specific processes or

protocols for reporting unethical conduct (e.g. to whom

should you direct the issue or there might be some paperwork

you are to fill out.) This is why it is critical that you must

procedures.

Important! In the first place, it is best to avoid putting yourself in

situations of conflicts of interests. This can be achieved by adhering

to organisational policies and procedures and relevant codes of

conduct, declaring any potential conflicts of interests, observing

guidelines in making decisions that are fair and open, avoiding

accepting gifts from clients, etc.