CRE Professional Standards & Ethics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under HIPAA regulations, which of the following is considered protected health information (PHI)?
- De-identified statistical health data used in research
- A patient's name combined with their asthma diagnosis (Correct answer)
- Aggregate respiratory disease prevalence rates in a county
- General educational materials about COPD management
Correct answer: A patient's name combined with their asthma diagnosis
PHI includes any individually identifiable health information, such as a patient's name linked to a specific medical condition.
Question 2: A CRE maintains professional boundaries by:
- Accepting gifts of significant monetary value from grateful patients
- Developing close personal friendships with all patients to improve rapport
- Maintaining a therapeutic relationship focused on patient health goals (Correct answer)
- Sharing personal contact information with all patients for after-hours support
Correct answer: Maintaining a therapeutic relationship focused on patient health goals
Professional boundaries require maintaining a therapeutic relationship that centers on the patient's health needs rather than personal connection.
Question 3: The National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) Code of Ethics requires CREs to:
- Prioritize institutional policies over patient welfare in all cases
- Practice with honesty, integrity, and in the best interest of patients (Correct answer)
- Avoid participating in any quality improvement activities
- Limit practice exclusively to inpatient hospital settings
Correct answer: Practice with honesty, integrity, and in the best interest of patients
The NBRC Code of Ethics mandates that respiratory care professionals practice with honesty and integrity while prioritizing patient welfare.
Question 4: A respiratory educator overhears a colleague discussing a patient's personal health information loudly in a public hospital corridor. This is a violation of:
- The principle of beneficence only
- HIPAA privacy regulations and professional confidentiality standards (Correct answer)
- The Americans with Disabilities Act
- State respiratory therapy licensing requirements only
Correct answer: HIPAA privacy regulations and professional confidentiality standards
Discussing PHI in public areas where unauthorized individuals may overhear violates HIPAA privacy rules and professional confidentiality obligations.
Question 5: When a respiratory educator disagrees with a physician's treatment plan for a patient, the appropriate action is to:
- Change the treatment plan without informing the physician
- Diplomatically raise concerns through appropriate professional channels (Correct answer)
- Comply silently with the plan regardless of patient safety concerns
- Refuse to treat the patient until the plan is revised
Correct answer: Diplomatically raise concerns through appropriate professional channels
Raising concerns professionally through proper channels maintains patient safety while respecting interprofessional relationships and communication norms.
Question 6: Cultural competence in respiratory education PRIMARILY involves:
- Providing identical education scripts to all patients regardless of background
- Understanding and respecting how cultural beliefs may influence health behaviors (Correct answer)
- Requiring all patients to communicate in English during education sessions
- Limiting education to medically proven practices only
Correct answer: Understanding and respecting how cultural beliefs may influence health behaviors
Cultural competence requires understanding how cultural beliefs, values, and practices influence patient health behaviors and adapting education accordingly.
Question 7: Which situation requires mandatory reporting by a respiratory educator in most U.S. states?
- A patient who misses two scheduled education appointments
- Evidence or suspicion of child abuse or neglect (Correct answer)
- A patient who declines a recommended pulmonary rehabilitation program
- Disagreement with an insurance company's coverage decision
Correct answer: Evidence or suspicion of child abuse or neglect
All U.S. states have mandatory reporting laws that require healthcare providers to report suspected child abuse or neglect to appropriate authorities.
CRE Professional Standards & Ethics 3
Under HIPAA regulations, which of the following is considered protected health information (PHI)?