CPRP Ethics & Professional Responsibilities 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A newly hired practitioner observes their supervisor engaging in what appears to be unethical conduct. What is the MOST appropriate action?
- Accept the behavior as normal for the workplace
- Document observations and report to a higher authority or ethics body if the supervisor does not respond to concerns (Correct answer)
- Confront the supervisor publicly to create accountability
- Immediately resign from the position
Correct answer: Document observations and report to a higher authority or ethics body if the supervisor does not respond to concerns
Ethical responsibility includes reporting observed misconduct through appropriate channels even when the person involved is a supervisor.
Question 2: A practitioner is experiencing burnout that is beginning to affect the quality of care provided. The ethical obligation is to:
- Continue working and address burnout during the next vacation
- Seek supervision, self-care resources, and consider reducing caseload to protect clients (Correct answer)
- Keep personal struggles private from supervisors
- Wait for clients to notice and complain before taking action
Correct answer: Seek supervision, self-care resources, and consider reducing caseload to protect clients
Practitioners have an ethical obligation to monitor their own wellness and take corrective action when professional functioning is impaired.
Question 3: When a client's guardian objects to the client's stated rehabilitation goals, the practitioner's ethical obligation is to:
- Follow only the guardian's wishes as the legal decision-maker
- Balance the client's self-determination with the guardian's legal authority, centering the client's voice (Correct answer)
- Exclude the guardian from all future planning meetings
- Defer entirely to agency policy without considering client wishes
Correct answer: Balance the client's self-determination with the guardian's legal authority, centering the client's voice
Even when a guardian has legal authority, practitioners must advocate for the client's voice and preferences within that legal framework.
Question 4: Which behavior MOST clearly violates the principle of fidelity in psychiatric rehabilitation?
- Telling a client that a service has a waitlist
- Promising a client outcomes the practitioner cannot guarantee (Correct answer)
- Explaining agency limitations during intake
- Setting clear session time boundaries
Correct answer: Promising a client outcomes the practitioner cannot guarantee
Fidelity requires honesty and trustworthiness; making promises about outcomes that cannot be guaranteed violates this principle.
Question 5: A client shares information in a group session that another group member later tries to share with a third party outside the group. The practitioner should:
- Ignore the situation as group confidentiality is clients' responsibility
- Reinforce group confidentiality norms and remind members of their shared obligation (Correct answer)
- Terminate the member who broke confidentiality immediately
- Document only if harm actually results
Correct answer: Reinforce group confidentiality norms and remind members of their shared obligation
Practitioners must proactively establish and reinforce group confidentiality expectations to protect all members.
Question 6: A practitioner learns that a client has begun using substances after a period of recovery. Ethically, the practitioner should:
- Immediately discharge the client for violating program rules
- Maintain a non-judgmental stance and address substance use within the rehabilitation context (Correct answer)
- Report the client to probation without consultation
- Pretend not to know to preserve the therapeutic relationship
Correct answer: Maintain a non-judgmental stance and address substance use within the rehabilitation context
Substance use is addressed as part of the recovery journey; non-judgmental engagement supports continued rehabilitation progress.
Question 7: Technology-based services (telehealth) in psychiatric rehabilitation introduce which UNIQUE ethical consideration?
- Telehealth eliminates the need for informed consent procedures
- Practitioners must ensure client privacy, digital security, and appropriateness of the modality for each client (Correct answer)
- Scope of practice rules do not apply across state lines for telehealth
- Remote services automatically extend practitioner licensure to all states
Correct answer: Practitioners must ensure client privacy, digital security, and appropriateness of the modality for each client
Telehealth requires attention to digital privacy, technology access equity, and verification that remote services are clinically appropriate for each individual.
CPRP Ethics & Professional Responsibilities 4
A newly hired practitioner observes their supervisor engaging in what appears to be unethical conduct.
What is the MOST appropriate action?