Ethics & Professional Practice Standards Flashcards
7 cards from real SLP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Ethics & Professional Practice Standards flashcards as text
A patient lacks decision-making capacity and has no designated healthcare proxy. Who typically serves as the surrogate decision-maker for treatment consent?
Answer: The patient's closest available family member per state law
When a patient lacks capacity and has no proxy, state law typically designates a hierarchy of family members to serve as surrogate decision-makers.
The principle of nonmaleficence in SLP practice means:
Answer: Avoiding actions that cause unnecessary harm to patients
Nonmaleficence is the ethical duty to avoid causing unnecessary harm, a core principle guiding clinical decision-making.
An SLP who serves on an expert witness panel must ensure their testimony is:
Answer: Objective, accurate, and within their scope of expertise
Expert witnesses must provide objective, truthful testimony based on their professional expertise, regardless of who retained them.
Cultural competence in SLP ethical practice requires the clinician to:
Answer: Recognize and integrate clients' cultural and linguistic backgrounds into care
ASHA's ethics standards require SLPs to incorporate cultural and linguistic considerations into assessment and treatment.
An SLP wishes to use a new treatment technique not yet supported by strong evidence. The ethical approach is to:
Answer: Implement it only after informing the patient and documenting the evidence basis
SLPs may use emerging techniques when they obtain informed consent and transparently document the current evidence base and clinical rationale.
Which ASHA ethical principle addresses the obligation to accurately represent one's credentials and competencies?
Answer: Principle III — Public statements
Principle III of ASHA's Code of Ethics governs public statements, including the accurate representation of credentials and competencies.
A former patient contacts their SLP on social media to share progress updates. The SLP's ethical response is to:
Answer: Maintain professional boundaries and avoid clinical discussions on social platforms
Professional boundary obligations and confidentiality concerns persist after treatment ends, requiring SLPs to avoid clinical discussions on social media.