Ethical Standards & Professional Boundaries Flashcards

A bereaved parent asks their perinatal bereavement counselor to attend the baby's memorial service as a personal guest and sit with the family. What is the most ethically appropriate response?

Answer: Attend briefly in a professional capacity if appropriate, maintaining the therapeutic role

Attending a memorial in a professional capacity may be appropriate in bereavement care, but the clinician must maintain their professional role rather than acting as a personal guest.

Which ethical principle is MOST directly violated when a perinatal bereavement specialist shares a client's story publicly without consent, even when all identifying details are changed?

Answer: Confidentiality

Confidentiality extends beyond identifying details; sharing client narratives without explicit consent violates this core ethical obligation.

A hospital-based perinatal bereavement nurse realizes she is personally grieving a recent pregnancy loss while providing care to a newly bereaved family. The FIRST priority should be to:

Answer: Immediately transfer the case to a colleague and seek personal support

When a clinician's personal grief may impair their ability to provide competent care, transferring the case and seeking support is the appropriate first step.

Which of the following best describes 'role blurring' in perinatal bereavement care?

Answer: When the professional's role shifts into friendship, advocacy, or personal relationship

Role blurring occurs when the clearly defined professional role begins to overlap with personal relationships or other inappropriate roles.

A perinatal bereavement specialist receives a friend request on social media from a bereaved parent they currently support. What is the ethically correct action?

Answer: Decline and address the request in the next clinical session

Declining and then addressing the request therapeutically preserves professional boundaries while using the interaction as a clinical opportunity.

In perinatal bereavement ethics, the concept of 'dual relationships' refers to:

Answer: Having both a professional and a personal relationship with a client

Dual relationships arise when a clinician holds both a professional role and another type of relationship (e.g., friend, neighbor) with the same person.

A perinatal bereavement counselor's client discloses that she is planning to harm herself. Under which ethical principle does the counselor's duty to warn override confidentiality?

Answer: Duty to protect from imminent harm

When a client presents imminent risk of harm to self, the duty to protect overrides confidentiality obligations.