CDCES Professional Ethics and Standards 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CDCES is asked by a patient to withhold their HbA1c results from their spouse who manages all family medical decisions. What is the correct approach?
- Share results with the spouse since they manage family health
- Honor the patient's right to control their own health information (Correct answer)
- Consult the physician to decide who should receive the results
- Share results only if the spouse is also the patient's emergency contact
Correct answer: Honor the patient's right to control their own health information
Adult patients have an autonomous right to control who receives their health information, regardless of family dynamics.
Question 2: The CDCES credential requires how many continuing education hours over the 5-year renewal period?
- 50 hours
- 75 hours
- 100 hours (Correct answer)
- 150 hours
Correct answer: 100 hours
CDCES certification renewal requires 100 continuing education hours, with at least 30 in diabetes-focused content, over the 5-year cycle.
Question 3: A CDCES is teaching a group class when a patient discloses a very personal struggle with diabetes distress. What is the most ethical response?
- Continue the group discussion to normalize the experience for others
- Offer to speak privately after class and connect the patient with support resources (Correct answer)
- Ask the group for advice on how to help the patient
- Document the disclosure in the group session notes
Correct answer: Offer to speak privately after class and connect the patient with support resources
Protecting patient privacy and dignity requires transitioning sensitive disclosures to a private setting and offering appropriate support resources.
Question 4: What does 'cultural humility' require of a CDCES when working with a patient from a different cultural background?
- Applying standard protocols uniformly to ensure equitable care
- Continuously reflecting on personal biases and deferring to the patient's cultural knowledge (Correct answer)
- Learning a few phrases in the patient's language as a courtesy
- Referring all patients from different cultures to culturally matched educators
Correct answer: Continuously reflecting on personal biases and deferring to the patient's cultural knowledge
Cultural humility is an ongoing process of self-reflection, recognizing power imbalances, and centering the patient as the expert on their own cultural context.
Question 5: A CDCES discovers an error in a patient's education record that was made by a colleague. What is the ethical obligation?
- Correct the error quietly without notation to protect the colleague
- Leave the error to avoid interfering with another professional's records
- Correct the error with a dated notation and follow facility policies on error correction (Correct answer)
- Shred the original record and create a corrected version
Correct answer: Correct the error with a dated notation and follow facility policies on error correction
Ethical record management requires correcting errors transparently with proper notation rather than concealment or destruction of records.
Question 6: Which scenario represents an appropriate dual relationship for a CDCES?
- Providing diabetes education to a close personal friend
- Serving as both a diabetes educator and a paid nutritional supplement sales representative to the same patients
- Teaching diabetes education in a community class attended by a former patient (Correct answer)
- Employing a current patient as a part-time office assistant
Correct answer: Teaching diabetes education in a community class attended by a former patient
Incidental overlap in community settings is generally permissible when the professional relationship has ended and no undue influence exists.
Question 7: When a CDCES disagrees with a physician's treatment recommendation for a patient, what is the most appropriate action?
- Advise the patient to find a new physician
- Communicate concerns directly to the physician through appropriate professional channels (Correct answer)
- Implement the patient's preferred approach without consulting the physician
- Document disagreement in the chart but follow the physician's orders without discussion
Correct answer: Communicate concerns directly to the physician through appropriate professional channels
Professional ethics require raising clinical concerns through respectful, direct communication with the prescribing provider rather than unilateral action or silence.
CDCES Professional Ethics and Standards 3
A CDCES is asked by a patient to withhold their HbA1c results from their spouse who manages all family medical decisions.
What is the correct approach?