Abstract
Abstract
As modern technology advances, more options are available to patients to prolong their lives, which can create ethical dilemmas when principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice conflict in a myriad of ways. While technology can be seen as miraculous, it can also be a barrier when patients harbor potentially false illusions about its benefits. Social workers have more training in communication styles, family systems, and coping strategies than other members of the interdisciplinary team, positioning them as experts in facilitating difficult conversations. There will always be ethical dilemmas and moral distress in patient care; it is inevitable in a volatile world where the stakes may be enormously high—literally life and death. The palliative social worker is in a unique position to identify, mitigate, and perhaps prevent escalating dilemmas while respecting autonomy and cultural and spiritual values. This opening chapter provides a broad sweep of the most salient ethical issues encountered in palliative care.