OTR Professional Ethics & Standards 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is considered an unethical supervisory practice for an OTR supervising an OTA?
- Reviewing the OTA's documentation weekly
- Delegating tasks within the OTA's scope of practice
- Signing off on the OTA's notes without reviewing the client (Correct answer)
- Providing constructive feedback during supervision sessions
Correct answer: Signing off on the OTA's notes without reviewing the client
Signing documentation without actual supervisory review is fraudulent and violates both ethical standards and payer requirements.
Question 2: An OTR learns that a client has expressed suicidal ideation to another team member but not to the OT. The OTR's ethical obligation is to:
- Avoid addressing it, as it was not disclosed in OT
- Continue the OT session as planned without acknowledgment
- Coordinate with the treatment team and follow facility protocol for safety (Correct answer)
- Immediately discharge the client from OT services
Correct answer: Coordinate with the treatment team and follow facility protocol for safety
Client safety supersedes professional boundaries; OTRs must collaborate with the team and follow safety protocols when risk is identified.
Question 3: The AOTA Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF) primarily serves to:
- Establish billing codes for OT services
- Describe the domain and process of occupational therapy (Correct answer)
- Set legal scope of practice for each state
- Define insurance reimbursement eligibility criteria
Correct answer: Describe the domain and process of occupational therapy
The OTPF articulates the domain (areas of OT concern) and process (evaluation, intervention, outcomes) that define OT practice.
Question 4: Which of the following best exemplifies the ethical principle of justice in OT practice?
- Providing the same intervention to every client regardless of need
- Advocating for equal access to OT services for underserved populations (Correct answer)
- Prioritizing clients who pay out of pocket over those with Medicaid
- Limiting services to clients most likely to achieve maximum outcomes
Correct answer: Advocating for equal access to OT services for underserved populations
Justice in OT ethics includes advocating for equitable access to services and addressing disparities in the healthcare system.
Question 5: When an OTR is uncertain whether a particular action is ethical, the best resource is:
- A personal moral judgment without consulting others
- The AOTA Code of Ethics, state practice act, and consultation with ethics advisors (Correct answer)
- The facility administrator's preferences
- What the majority of colleagues in the building are doing
Correct answer: The AOTA Code of Ethics, state practice act, and consultation with ethics advisors
Ethical decision-making should be grounded in professional codes, legal standards, and consultation with qualified ethics resources.
Question 6: An OTR who witnesses workplace discrimination against a colleague has an ethical obligation to:
- Ignore it as it does not directly involve client care
- Report it through appropriate channels such as HR or an ethics committee (Correct answer)
- Handle it privately by confronting the perpetrator alone
- Wait to see if the colleague reports it first
Correct answer: Report it through appropriate channels such as HR or an ethics committee
The AOTA Code of Ethics includes obligations to address injustice in professional settings, including discrimination and harassment.
Question 7: An OTR who uses a client's case in a professional presentation must:
- Obtain written informed consent from the client or ensure complete de-identification of the case (Correct answer)
- Simply change the client's name to protect identity
- Get verbal permission from a supervisor
- Include the case only if the client has been discharged for more than one year
Correct answer: Obtain written informed consent from the client or ensure complete de-identification of the case
Using client information for educational purposes requires either written consent or thorough de-identification to protect confidentiality.
OTR Professional Ethics & Standards 5
Which of the following is considered an unethical supervisory practice for an OTR supervising an OTA?