Medical Ethics & Patient Rights Flashcards
7 cards from real CHT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Medical Ethics & Patient Rights flashcards as text
A patient refuses a recommended hyperbaric oxygen treatment session. What is the technician's primary ethical obligation?
Answer: Document the refusal and notify the supervising physician
Documenting the refusal and notifying the physician respects patient autonomy while ensuring proper medical oversight and legal protection.
Under HIPAA, which of the following is an example of a permissible disclosure of patient information without written authorization?
Answer: Reporting a communicable disease to public health authorities
HIPAA permits disclosure to public health authorities for disease reporting without patient authorization as a required public health activity.
A hyperbaric technician observes a colleague falsifying a patient's treatment log. What is the most appropriate first action?
Answer: Report the falsification to the supervisor or compliance officer
Falsifying medical records is fraudulent and endangers patient safety; reporting it through proper channels is the technician's ethical duty.
Which ethical principle is MOST directly violated when a hyperbaric technician performs a procedure beyond their scope of practice?
Answer: Non-maleficence
Non-maleficence ('do no harm') is violated when a technician performs procedures they are not trained or authorized to perform, risking patient injury.
A competent adult patient with a pressure wound requests information about all available treatment alternatives, not just HBO therapy. This request reflects which patient right?
Answer: Right to informed consent and treatment alternatives
Patients have the right to be informed of all treatment alternatives as part of the informed consent process, enabling autonomous decision-making.
When obtaining informed consent for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which element is ESSENTIAL to include?
Answer: Potential risks, benefits, and alternatives to the treatment
Valid informed consent must include the risks, benefits, and alternatives so the patient can make a voluntary, educated decision.
A patient's legal guardian provides consent for hyperbaric treatment, but the patient (a competent adult) objects. How should this situation be handled?
Answer: Halt the treatment and consult the physician and ethics team
A competent adult's refusal supersedes a guardian's consent; the clinical and ethics team must evaluate decision-making capacity and patient rights.