Health Care Ethics for Psychologists: A Casebook

Health Care Ethics For Psychologists: A Casebook explores the ethical questions encountered most often by practitioners in health care settings. Ethical challenges occur almost routinely in health care. Issues of informed consent, respect for patients' dignity and confidentiality, the balance between patient and family rights, and billing for services under managed care are just a few of the topics that challenge psychologists to uphold their ethical obligations across the health care continuum. This casebook offers a real-life view of ethical situations as they unfold, including case-by-case consideration of critical background information, key stakeholders, the direct relevance of specific APA principles and standards, and suggested steps to resolve ethical issues. Case examples in settings from the emergency room to long-term care vividly illustrate the complexities of ethical dilemmas, and case commentaries helpfully explicate the quandaries presented. These detailed cases allow the reader to acquire a true understanding of the patients' specific contexts and the challenges to clinical decision-making. This dynamic view affords readers the opportunity to critically evaluate the resolutions offered or, alternately, to craft their own resolutions. This engrossing casebook will be required reading for psychologists and other mental health practitioners working in health care settings.