Elizabeth Hoffman

Determining The Best Decision

Determining the best choice was the case our group was given. This case

focused on a husband and wife who were put in an odd situation. The husband is a

physical therapist who specializes in the cervical spine and is well respected in this

area. The physical therapist's wife was in a fender bender that injured her cervical spine

region. Therefore, the decision needs to be made if the husband can treat his wife or if

another therapist needs to be called in. In class we utilized the RIPS model to form our

decision. As I make my own ethical framework I will find details of different frameworks

to build one that I think is an effective ethical framework. My ethical framework would

include all of the items listed below.

- Analyze the job to find my moral responsibility

- Work for the greater good rather than my own wants

- Refrain from lying or blurring the lines no matter the end result

In regards to our case, I believe that the husband should not treat his wife. I

believe it will eliminate further complications in the case. The husband could give input

or recommendations for the treatment, but he will have to be limited in order to allow the

other physical therapist to complete the treatment. If the husband would end up treating

his wife there could be issues with insurance or code of ethics violations that could be

avoided. The steps I took to make my final decision are listed below.
 - Gather the relative factors

- Understand my role as a professional

- Analyze all realistic outcomes

- Eliminate myself / or the person in question from the outcomes

Kant seems to have the most relative approach in regards to making the best

decision. He often questions if the accepted right choice is truly the right choice. It is

often easier to go with society's right answer rather than going against the norm to find

the moral high ground. I appreciate that Kant makes a point to remove one’s self

interest in order to see the situation without a personal investment. Lastly, Kant focused

on the duty that the individual holds in their role. Duty simplifies the issue down to the

person’s responsibility to eliminate all other factors.

An individual's ethical framework can reveal a lot about that person and how they

process situations. I think a perk of moving professional roles to the summer allows us

to think about ethical framework in a mix of classes. It also gives us plenty of time to

develop our framework before and during our clinical rotations. As a physical therapist

an ethical framework will be utilized more than the typical job. I think because we hold a

bigger role in the patient’s life we need to process and never rush any decision that

could create an issue for the patient. We have a duty to our patients, their health and

safety must come first. The ethical framework is another tool on our toolbelt and I will

approach situations with that always in the back of my mind. I was curious when we
would use an ethical framework and the examples in class opened my eyes to the

dilemmas that are not uncommon in the field of physical therapy.