FANZCA Professional Standards and Ethics 2

Question 1

A consultant anaesthetist discovers a colleague is performing procedures while impaired by alcohol. What is the FIRST appropriate action?

Accepted Answer

Notify the department head or clinical lead as per hospital policy

Answer

The first step is to follow institutional reporting pathways by notifying the department head, while ensuring patient safety is maintained.

Question 2

Under the ANZCA Code of Professional Conduct, what principle governs the duty to disclose a near-miss event to a patient?

Accepted Answer

Open disclosure — honesty and transparency with patients

Answer

Open disclosure is the specific ANZCA and Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care framework requiring honest communication of adverse events with patients.

Question 3

A patient who lacks decision-making capacity requires emergency surgery. No next of kin is reachable. The anaesthetist should:

Accepted Answer

Proceed on the basis of necessity and best interests, documenting reasoning

Answer

In a genuine emergency where delay would cause serious harm, clinicians may act on the principle of necessity in the patient's best interests without formal consent.

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the concept of 'therapeutic privilege' in the context of informed consent?

Accepted Answer

The right of a physician to withhold information if disclosure would harm the patient

Answer

Therapeutic privilege is the controversial doctrine that allows withholding information if disclosure itself would cause significant psychological harm, though it is rarely accepted in modern Australian law.

Question 5

A trainee anaesthetist is asked by a supervisor to falsify a logbook entry. The trainee should:

Accepted Answer

Refuse and report the request to the training committee or ANZCA

Answer

Falsifying training records is a serious breach of professional integrity; the trainee must refuse and escalate through appropriate channels such as the college or training committee.

(FANZCA) Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Practice Test

(FANZCA) Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Practice Test

FANZCA Professional Standards and Ethics 2