SLP Ethics & Professional Practice Standards 3

Question 1

A patient lacks decision-making capacity and has no designated healthcare proxy. Who typically serves as the surrogate decision-maker for treatment consent?

Accepted Answer

The patient's closest available family member per state law

Answer

When a patient lacks capacity and has no proxy, state law typically designates a hierarchy of family members to serve as surrogate decision-makers.

Question 2

The principle of nonmaleficence in SLP practice means:

Accepted Answer

Avoiding actions that cause unnecessary harm to patients

Answer

Nonmaleficence is the ethical duty to avoid causing unnecessary harm, a core principle guiding clinical decision-making.

Question 3

An SLP who serves on an expert witness panel must ensure their testimony is:

Accepted Answer

Objective, accurate, and within their scope of expertise

Answer

Expert witnesses must provide objective, truthful testimony based on their professional expertise, regardless of who retained them.

Question 4

Cultural competence in SLP ethical practice requires the clinician to:

Accepted Answer

Recognize and integrate clients' cultural and linguistic backgrounds into care

Answer

ASHA's ethics standards require SLPs to incorporate cultural and linguistic considerations into assessment and treatment.

Question 5

An SLP wishes to use a new treatment technique not yet supported by strong evidence. The ethical approach is to:

Accepted Answer

Implement it only after informing the patient and documenting the evidence basis

Answer

SLPs may use emerging techniques when they obtain informed consent and transparently document the current evidence base and clinical rationale.

(SLP) Speech-Language Pathologist Certified Practice Test

(SLP) Speech-Language Pathologist Certified Practice Test

SLP Ethics & Professional Practice Standards 3