Module 16. Professional Ethics
Module 16. Professional Ethics
Professional Ethics
Learning Objectives
By the end of the module, you will be able to:
• Describe ethical issues related to HIV
rapid testing
• Explain the importance of professional
ethics
• Apply ethical conduct to HIV rapid testing
• Take appropriate actions to maintain client
confidentiality
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Content Outline
• What is ethics?
• Why is ethics important?
• Who is responsible for ethics?
• How is ethics applied to HIV rapid testing?
• Maintaining confidentiality
• Code of conduct
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Scenario I
A pregnant woman comes for HIV testing. Your
test site has just run out of the 2nd test in the
algorithm. You tell her that she will have to come
back in 2 days. She becomes very emotional and
explains that she has traveled a long distance after
finally deciding to get tested and won't be back in
the area for a long time.
Feeling sorry for her, you proceed to perform test
one, and report a resulting positive test to the
client.
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Scenario II
At the HIV rapid testing site, you discover
that you just run out of the buffer for Test 1
of the algorithm. Rather than denying testing
to clients, you decide to go ahead and
perform Test 1 using the buffer from kits of
Test 2.
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Scenario III
Today is Monday. You discover that there
are enough test devices to last through the
entire week, but they will expire on
Wednesday.
Since resources are tight and you don’t want
to waste any test kits (it is only a couple of
days past expiration anyway), you decide to
use the test devices until the end of the
week.
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What Could Be the
Consequences of…
• A false positive HIV result?
• A false negative result?
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What Is Ethics?
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Why is Ethics Important?
“Decisions about diagnosis, prognosis and
treatment are frequently based on results
and interpretations of laboratory tests.
Irreversible harm may be caused by
erroneous tests.”
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Scenario IV
Rick, the tester, is excited about getting
home at the end of his work day, because a
relative he hasn’t seen in quite some time is
scheduled to arrive. Right before he is ready
to leave, he gets distracted by a phone call
and forgets to lock up the lab register in the
cabinet.
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Maintaining Confidentiality
It is important to:
• Keep all client/patient information private
• Secure all records / logbooks
• Restrict access to testing areas
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Who is Responsible for Ethics?
• EVERYONE!
Medical Laboratory Technician
Nurse Counselor
Clerk
Secretary
General Hand
Driver
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How Do We Apply Ethics To HIV
Rapid Testing?
• Work done
• Behavior of the staff
• Behavior of management
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Code of Ethics (IFBLS)
Excerpts from International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science (IFBLS)
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Code of Ethics (ASCP)
Excerpts from American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP)
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Key Messages
• Ethical issues are important. We must
constantly remind ourselves of the code of
conducts and ensure we do the right thing.
• Ethical issues are often hard to deal with
because they create dilemmas.
• People often violate ethics not because
they mean to, but because they are
careless. As a matter of fact, they
sometimes act with good intentions.
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