Review the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct on the APA Web site linked in the Required Resources section of this assessment.

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Preparation

Review the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct on the APA Web site linked in the Required Resources section of this assessment. Then, conduct your own search for information on the topic of ethics in psychology. Find at least three scholarly and professional resources on the topic of ethics and ethical behavior to use in this assessment. At least one of the resources you use must be a peer-reviewed journal article.

The work for this assessment is based on the following case study:

You have known Dr. Betsy Jones professionally for a number of years and have maintained a friendly relationship via email and social media after she moved to a small town several hours away. Yesterday you received an e-mail asking for your advice regarding a professional situation.

This is the situation Dr. Jones outlined in her e-mail to you:

Dr. Jones lives and practices psychology in a small town. She began treating a 52-year-old man she refers to as Mr. Albertson, who was suffering with depression. After only five sessions, Mr. Albertson suffered a serious concussion while at work. His impairment is quite noticeable; he has trouble understanding concepts and becomes easily confused during his next two sessions with Dr. Jones.

One of Mr. Albertson’s co-workers helped him find an attorney to protect his rights. Dr. Jones had Mr. Albertson sign a release so she could talk to the attorney and to the co-worker. The attorney calls to say that Workers Compensation wants to work out a settlement. But the attorney has no idea just how impaired Mr. Albertson is; they have never met face-to-face, only by e-mail and phone.

Mr. Albertson demonstrates multiple cognitive deficits. He needs assistance and monitoring with things such as cleaning his house, shopping, transportation, paying bills, and understanding the settlement process. He will likely need to go into an assisted living facility. His family members all live some distance away and are unable to provide much help. Workers Compensation refuses to pay for the services of an independent social worker, and attempts to find social service agencies that can help have not been successful. Further, Mr. Albertson does not appear to understand either his legal rights or the settlement process.

Before providing extra therapy support, Dr. Jones had Mr. Albertson sign a document explaining her fees for the additional services. She does not feel that he completely understands what is happening. Dr. Jones has been doing much of the case management work such as locating a long-time friend who is willing to help at home, referring him for neuropsychological testing, having long discussions with his primary physician, participating in conference calls with the attorney, and trying to find a guardian.

Dr. Jones is not sure that her actions would be considered ethical, and feels she is just too close to the situation to know what to do. She has asked for your help.

Requirements

Write a 4–6 page response to Dr. Jones (because you want to be as thorough as possible) in which you:

  • Describe the potential ethical issues in the situation. (Review the principles and standards in the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, and think about which principles and standards are relevant to the situation.)
  • Explain the competing ethical principles.
  • Analyze the implications of Dr. Jones engaging in multiple roles associated with Mr. Albertson’s care. 
    • If Dr. Jones is practicing outside the scope of her license, what might happen as a result? (Check the licensing and legal requirements in your state.)
    • Is there a conflict of interest in Dr. Jones’ actions?
    • Are there possible issues involving confidentiality?
    • Are there possible legal implications?
  • Recommend an evidence-based, ethical course of action for Dr. Jones.

Be sure you support your statements, explanations, analysis, and recommendations with references to at least three scholarly or professional resources. Because this is being written to another psychology professional, format this assessment following APA guidelines.

Additional Requirements

  • Include a title page and reference page.
  • Number of pages: 4–6, not including title page and reference page.
  • At least 3 current scholarly or professional resources.
  • APA format.
  • Times New Roman font, 12 pt.
  • Double-spaced.

Select a health care facility or service (e.g., hospital, physician practice, long-term care facility, ambulance service, pharmacy, or skilled nursing facility)

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Select a health care facility or service (e.g., hospital, physician practice, long-term care facility, ambulance service, pharmacy, or skilled nursing facility).

Design a 700- to 800-word proposal for a process improvement or cultural change that would affect all levels of staff in the organization (e.g., Lean Six Sigma or Studer Group).

Cite 1 reputable references to support your assignment (e.g., trade or industry publications, government or agency websites, scholarly works, or other sources of similar quality).

In this Discussion, you will transform a clinical inquiry into a searchable question in PICO(T) format, so you can search the electronic databases more effectively and efficiently.

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When you decide to purchase a new car, you first decide what is important to you. If mileage and dependability are the important factors, you will search for data focused more on these factors and less on color options and sound systems.

The same holds true when searching for research evidence to guide your clinical inquiry and professional decisions. Developing a formula for an answerable, researchable question that addresses your need will make the search process much more effective. One such formula is the PICO(T) format. 

In this Discussion, you will transform a clinical inquiry into a searchable question in PICO(T) format, so you can search the electronic databases more effectively and efficiently. You will share this PICO(T) question and examine strategies you might use to increase the rigor and effectiveness of a database search on your PICO(T) question.

To Prepare:

  • Review the materials offering guidance on using databases, performing keyword searches, and developing PICO(T) questions provided in the Resources.
  • Review the Resources for guidance and develop a PICO(T) question of interest to you for further study. 

Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2018). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.

  • Chapter 2, “Asking Compelling Clinical Questions” (pp. 33–54)
  • Chapter 3, “Finding Relevant Evidence to Answer Clinical Questions” (pp. 55–92

Davies, K. S. (2011). Formulating the evidence based practice question: A review of the frameworks for LIS professionals. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 6(2), 75–80. https://doi.org/10.18438/B8WS5N. Retrieved from https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/article/viewFile/9741/8144 

Stillwell, S. B., Fineout-Overholt, E., Melnyk, B. M., & Williamson, K. M. (2010a). Evidence-based practice, step by step: Asking the clinical question: A key step in evidence-based practice. American Journal of Nursing, 110(3), 58–61. 

doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000368959.11129.79. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Fulltext/2010/03000/Evidence_Based_Practice,_Step_by_Step__Asking_the.28.aspx

Se,_Step_by_Step__Searching.24.aspx 

Post your PICO(T) question, the search terms used, and the names of at least two databases used for your PICO(T) question. Then, describe your search results in terms of the number of articles returned on original research and how this changed as you added search terms using your Boolean operators. Finally, explain strategies you might make to increase the rigor and effectiveness of a database search on your PICO(T) question. Be specific and provide examples.

Where can you find evidence to inform your thoughts and scholarly writing?

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Where can you find evidence to inform your thoughts and scholarly writing? Throughout your degree program, you will use research literature to explore ideas, guide your thinking, and gain new insights. As you search the research literature, it is important to use resources that are peer-reviewed and from scholarly journals. You may already have some favorite online resources and databases that you use or have found useful in the past. For this Discussion, you explore databases available through the Walden Library.

To Prepare:

  • Review the information presented in the Learning Resources for using the Walden Library, searching the databases, and evaluating online resources.
  • Begin searching for a peer-reviewed article that pertains to your practice area and interests you.

Post the following:

Using proper APA formatting, cite the peer-reviewed article you selected that pertains to your practice area and is of particular interest to you and identify the database that you used to search for the article. Explain any difficulties you experienced while searching for this article. Would this database be useful to your colleagues? Explain why or why not. Would you recommend this database? Explain why or why not.