CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

66
ESSENTIALS OF CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
Critical Reminder
The Oath of Hippocrates Is a
Formal Statement of Core Values
and Beliefs
• Do not harm anyone intentionally.
• Perform according to sound ability
and good judgment.
• Do that for which training has
occurred, and not more.
• Do not become involved in anyone’s
care out of curiosity; only deal with
those to whom assigned. Only
information that is needed to provide
the appropriate level of care is to
be disseminated to or obtained
or solicited by those who do not
have a professional need for the
information.
• Facts about patients are not to be
part of personal conversations but
are to be kept confidential.
Critical Reminder
Health Care Professionals
Should Not:
• Be impolite to a patient or his or her
family and should always treat the
patient with respect and in a professional
manner.
• Discuss a patient’s ailment with him
or her. This is the role of the physician
or his or her assistant or other
designated person.
• Discuss various types of therapy
chosen for treatment.
• Prescribe or suggest changes in
medication or means of treatment.
• Discuss patient’s physician or his or
her designated assistant with the
patient or his family or yield information
of a confidential nature to anyone
except those who need to know.
treatment. Other medical professions that incorporate the process
of “pinning” as a traditional rite of passage into a profession
also incorporate a statement of values and beliefs essential
for the profession the student is entering. The Critical Reminder
box (upper left) sets out a modern version of the Oath of Hippocrates.
Professional Societies
Professional societies, in most cases, are composed of professional
groups restricted to a particular area of expertise and
most, if not all, have a statement or statements governing the
ethical practice by their respective associations and members.
These groups generally reflect in their codes or creeds the major
themes of reliability, accuracy of procedures, assessments , and
confidentiality. Hospital and most medical clinics have a formal
code of ethics that may be included in other documents, such as
a code of ethics , which may include the Patient’s Bill of Rights .
Basic tenets of the Patient’s Bill statements such as those shown
in the Critical Reminder box (lower left).
Patient Expectations and Rights
In the past few years and as mentioned earlier in this chapter,
health care facilities have begun to publish a Patient’s Bill of
Rights and a mission statement. Many of the components of the
bill of rights (Table 3-1) relate to morality, ethics, and legality
as they apply to providing health care. Mission statements based
on corporate models that most large companies embrace have
also become a focal point of providing proper services to patients.
These two official documents support and enhance each other.
Since medical care workers are in direct contact with the patients
and their families, as well as becoming aware of personal information
related to the person, it is necessary that ALL health care
workers be trained as to their responsibilities. This would include
ways to deal with patients, their families, and any information
they are knowledgeable of that would be pertinent to the patient’s
treatment.
Basics of Patient’s Right to Informed Consent
One of the major patient’s rights is the requirement for “informed
consent” documentation. The patient has the right to be informed
of hospital policies and practices that relate to patient care, treatment,
and responsibilities. The patient has the right to be informed
of available resources for resolving disputes, grievances, and conflicts,
such as ethics committees, patient representatives, or other
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.