Professional Ethics & Scope of Practice Flashcards

A Certified Midwife Assistant's (CMA) scope of practice is best defined as:

Answer: Assisting a licensed midwife or provider within defined competencies and under supervision

A CMA works within a defined scope under the supervision or direction of a licensed midwife or healthcare provider, supporting rather than independently practicing.

Informed consent for a birth procedure requires that the patient receive information about:

Answer: Benefits, risks, alternatives, and the right to refuse

Valid informed consent requires disclosure of the procedure's benefits, risks, alternatives, and the patient's right to refuse without penalty.

Confidentiality of patient health information is governed in the US primarily by:

Answer: HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

HIPAA establishes federal standards for protecting the privacy and security of individually identifiable health information in the United States.

If a midwifery assistant witnesses a potential error by the supervising midwife, the appropriate action is to:

Answer: Use the chain of command and raise concerns through appropriate channels

Patient safety requires using institutional chain of command to escalate safety concerns professionally and promptly without undermining care delivery.

Which principle of biomedical ethics requires that a provider act in the best interest of the patient?

Answer: Beneficence

Beneficence means actively doing good and promoting the patient's welfare, which is a core obligation of all healthcare providers.

A laboring patient who has capacity declines a recommended intervention. The CMA should:

Answer: Document the refusal and respect the patient's decision

Respect for patient autonomy requires honoring the informed refusal of a competent adult; the refusal must be documented and the team informed.