Ethical and Legal Issues in Employment and Research Flashcards
(OSHA):
- What does it stand for = ?
- Ensures = ?
- Standards include = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
OccupationalSafety andHealth Act (OSHA):
(a) Occupational Safety and Health Act:
- Passed in 1970 to prevent workers from being killed or otherwise harmed at work.
- Ensures safe and healthful workingconditions for employees by setting and enforcingstandards and by providing training, outreach,education andassistance
(b) The standards include:
- Requirements to provide fall protection
- Creating emergency action plans
- Limiting exposure to hazardous chemicals
- Putting guards on machines to protect workers
- Keeping record of workplace injuries and illnesses
- Requiring the use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Prevent trench cave-ins
- Goal to reduce workplace hazards by requiringemployers to meet specified health and safetystandards.
(c) OSHA gives legal rights:
- Workplaces must provide training for employees regarding workplace hazards.
- Workers have the right to file a complaint with OSHA and theycannot be harmed by the employer for doing so.
- If workers sincerely believe that a serious injury ordeath might occur because the work area isunsafe, they can refuse toworkand employers maynot retaliate.
What standard imposes requirements on employers of workers who have occupational exposure to blood = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Bloodborne Pathogens Standard:
(a) 1991 OSHA administered this standard
(b) Designed to protect workers from the risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens:
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- Hepatitis B Virus
(c )The standard imposes requirements on employers of workers who have occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials (certain tissues and body fluids).
A routine practice which should be conducted before every patient interaction to assess the likelihood of exposing yourself to infectious agents = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Point of CareRiskAssessment:
(a) Point of care risk assessment
- A routine practice which should be conducted before every patient interaction to assess the likelihood of exposing yourself to infectious agents.
- From a specific interaction:
- E.g What task am I carrying out?
- Clinical procedures/interactions, surgery
- With a specific patient
- E.g What is the patient’s health status or symptoms? And are they able to practice respiratory etiquette/hand hygiene?
(b) Notes:
- Infants/young children, patients notcapable of hand hygiene or compliancewith respiratory hygiene.
- In a specific environment
- E.g where am I doing my task?
- Single rooms, washrooms, hallway, publicareas, therapeutic departments,housekeeping, elevator.
Standard Precautions:
- Define = ?
- Includes = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Standard Precautions:
(a) OSHA and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are the regulating bodies for infection control, prevention and awareness.
(b) Standard Precautions:
- The basic, minimum level of infection control that should be used with all patients, all of the time.
- Include a series of measures to preventdirect contact with body fluids, blood,secretions, excretions, and minimize thespread of infections associated withhealthcare.
(c) Notes:
- Healthcareworkers need to apply standardprecautionswheneverproviding care,despite the patient’s diagnosis.
- Cleaning hands is the most effectivemeasure to prevent the spread of infection.
Standard Precautions:
- These minimum infection prevention steps include = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Standard Precautions:
(a) These minimum infection prevention steps include:
- Hand hygiene
- Use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Respiratory hygiene (covering your cough/sneeze)
- Sharp object safety and proper disposal
- Cleaning of supplies and disposal of waste
(b) In addition to Standard Precautions, higher levels of PPE are required for different precautions
- E.g Droplet precautions, Contact precautions, Airborne precautions
Hand Hygiene:
- Per the CDC, when should personnel use an alcohol-based hand rub or wash with soap and water = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Hand Hygiene:
(a) Per the CDC, personnel should use an alcohol-based hand rub or wash with soap and water in these key situations:
- Immediately before touching a patient
- Before performing an aseptic task (e.g. insertion of IV or catheter, preparing an injection)
- After contact with the patient or patient’s immediate environment
- After contact with blood, body fluids or contaminated surfaces
- Before moving from a soiled body site to a clean body site on the same patient
- After removal of gloves or other PPE
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):
- Purpose = ?
- Types of PPE used in healthcare setting include = ?
- Factors that influence PPE selection = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):
(a) Worn to minimize exposure to serious workplaceinjuries and illnesses.
(b) Types of PPE used in healthcare settings:
- Gloves
- Gowns/aprons
- Masks and respirators
- Goggles
- Face shields
(c) Factors that influence PPE selection:
- Type of exposure anticipated
- Durability and appropriateness for the task
- Fit
Risk Management:
- Methods utilized to = ?
- Risk management includes = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Risk Management:
(a) Meaning:
- Methods utilized by health care organizations todefend their assets against the threats posed bylegal liability
(b) Risk management includes the following:
- Ensures PTs follow organizational policies
- Equipment maintained
- If injury, there should be medical responsesin place with policies/procedures forincident reports
- Respect patient informed consent prior to anytouching, procedures,
intervention,
Appropriate supervision
Scientific Integrity and Experimentation:
- The validity and usefulness of scientific studies depend on = ?.
- Integrity in research requires = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Scientific Integrity and Experimentation:
- The validity and usefulness of scientific studies depend on whether the researchers proceed with scientific integrity.
(a) Integrity in research:
- Requires respect for others, honesty, fairness, decency, and moralconsistency
(b) Notes: “Integrity in Physical Therapy Research” by APTA states:
- “A concernfor integrity in research follows quite naturally from the dualcommitment to research and professional ethics.”
Four components to scientific integrity = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Four components to scientific integrity:
(1) Respect for autonomy:
- Shown by securing informedconsent from persons who participate in researchprojects.
(2) Justice:
- Shown by a concern about who benefits fromscientific experimentation
(3) Humaneness:
- Shown by acting with beneficence towardboth humans and research animals.
(4) Honesty:
- Providing full disclosure of research findings aswell as giving proper credit to authors of publication.
Respect for autonomy in research requires = ?
- The most important ethical considerationin experimentation on people = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Respect for Autonomy in Research:
(a) Core of scientific integrity in research onhumans
- “Treat persons as autonomous rational beings who have their own purposesand never as mere means to reaching your ownpurposes.”
- To ignore, undermine, or assault that autonomy is to degradepeople.
(b) Requires:
- Voluntary Consent
- Informed Consent
- Competent to Consent
- E.g.Alzheimer’s research, children
(c) Voluntary, informed consent is the most important, ethical considerationin experimentation on people.
Humaneness in Research:
- Vital to act with beneficence and for research to not = ?
- Examples from history = ?
- IRB must have = ?
Ethical and Legal - Employment & Research
Humaneness in Research:
(a) Vital to act with beneficence and for research to not exploit the subjects.
(b) History of abuse in research subjects
- Nazi Germany
- Tuskegee Syphilis Study
- Willowbrook experiments:
(c) Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (1991):
- Mandatedinternal review board (IRB) at every institution engaging in human researchand receiving federal funds.
- The IRB must have at least 5 members, including one who represents non-scientific interests (clergy, attorney, ethicist).
