Speak Out April 2018

Ethics news

Principles-based reasoning decision making protocol

SPA members have access to self-study resources to assist understanding and use of four approaches to ethical reasoning. This includes the online SPA ethics education module, the hard copy ethics education package, and four worksheets that outline the key questions/steps involved in use of each approach. Each of the four approaches will be used over the next four editions of Speak Out to consider case studies, reflecting common queries received at National Office. Disclaimer The information presented in this case study is fictional and any similarity to real people or organisations is coincidental. The information is an amalgam of many real life scenarios, therefore the person/s described in the discussion is/are not a real person. This case study was created for the purposes of this article/presentation. The first approach is the Principles-Based Reasoning Decision Making Protocol. This protocol draws on values, principles and standards of practice Case study: Decision making when an employee is leaving a job Carleigh’s story Carleigh is an early career speech pathologist who has been working at SP Speech Clinic for eight months. She has enjoyed the caseload she has been working with but has found keeping on top of the workload very challenging. She has a full client list, works many hours extra to complete notes and reports and hasn’t had time to undertake any PD activities since she started working. Her employer, Alysha, has scheduled monthly supervision sessions, but they are both busy and they have only managed to meet every two to three months, the rest of the time Alysha has cancelled at the last minute due to being too busy herself. Carleigh is feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, she had planned to talk with Alysha about her concerns at the supervision sessions that were subsequently cancelled, and worries that Alysha has no spare time for Carleigh to request other meetings or to talk about how she is managing. Carleigh is also aware that Alysha is well known in the local community and is worried that Alysha might make negative comments about her to other people if she is seen to be ‘’complaining’’. Carleigh feels she has no alternative for addressing her workload level other than resigning. She has very reluctantly decided to leave SP Speech Clinic and set up her own private practice as she cannot see any other solutions to keep control of her workload and stress levels. Carleigh emails Alysha with her resignation letter stating the decision was because she wanted to ‘go out on her own’. Carleigh receives an email back expressing Alysha’s surprise and disappointment, with some comments about lack of commitment and distrust that Carleigh finds upsetting. Carleigh is so worried about the situation that she feels nauseous, so she texts Alysha at 10.00pm to say she might need to take the rest of her resignation period as sick leave.

Alysha’s story Alysha set up SP Speech Clinic five years ago after ten years working in the public system. She has worked hard to build up the practice. It has grown due to her professionalism towards her clients and has developed a good reputation. A year ago, Alysha decided that she needed some help and a friend recommended Carleigh who had been a student in another practice. Alysha interviewed Carleigh and liked her attitude and enthusiasm so she offered Carleigh a full time job. Carleigh developed a fantastic rapport with clients and the referrals kept increasing. This was great for business, but meant that they were both flat out all the time. Alysha feels like she is always behind in her clinical work, only has time to work on the business at night, and she is exhausted too. She knows she has a responsibility to support Carleigh as an employee and to provide supervision to assist Carleigh develop her professional skills and knowledge as a new speech pathologist embarking on her career. However, due to workloads, there never seems to be enough time to have a friendly chat, let alone meet for supervision or plan Carleigh’s professional development together. Alysha receivs an email from Carleigh saying she is resigning. Alysha is shocked. She had no idea that Carleigh was looking to set up her own practice, and feelings of resentment start to grow. Alysha has given Carleigh her first job, provided interesting clients to work with, a nice clinic environment, appropriate pay and leave entitlements. As a result, Alysha feels betrayed by Carleigh and that she is not grateful for the opportunities Alysha has provided. Alysha is very worried about how she will ensure ongoing services for all of Carleigh’s clients, and now has just got a text from Carleigh to advise she will not be in tomorrow and may not be coming back before she finishes, which adds more to Alysha’s feelings of resentment and worry about how to replace Carleigh. Principles-based approach Using the template for this approach, the following two pages show an example of how the situation could be examined to identify and consider key underlying issues and plan appropriate actions for Carleigh and Alysha.

Level1 /114WilliamStreet T 61 396424899

MelbourneVictoria3000

F 61 396424922

office@speechpathologyaustralia.org.au www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

PrinciplesBasedApproach The facts (Describeand Define the issue/dilemma) Whatare the facts? [Type your answer here]

Worksheet available on the SPA website.

Howdid I/we learnabout them? [Type your answer here]

Who is involved? [Type your answer here]

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