3.4 Professional Ethics and Boundaries
Key Takeaways
- Professional behavior includes honesty, reliability, confidentiality, respect, and accountability.
- Boundary problems include accepting money, favoritism, sharing personal problems, or forming inappropriate relationships.
- Residents have the right to choose, refuse, complain, and be treated with dignity.
- The CNA should not argue, threaten, shame, or punish a resident.
- Ethical care means doing the right thing even when the unit is busy.
Professional Conduct
A CNA spends more time at the bedside than many other team members. That access creates trust and responsibility.
Professional behavior includes:
- Arriving on time and prepared.
- Following assignments and reporting incomplete care.
- Speaking respectfully.
- Protecting privacy.
- Keeping promises you can keep.
- Admitting mistakes promptly.
- Asking for help before unsafe care occurs.
Boundaries
Boundaries protect residents and staff. A resident may feel grateful, lonely, frightened, or dependent. The CNA must remain caring without becoming personally entangled.
| Appropriate | Boundary Problem |
|---|---|
| Listening respectfully | Sharing your financial problems |
| Accepting a thank-you card per policy | Accepting cash |
| Treating all residents fairly | Spending extra time only with favorites |
| Reporting family concerns | Giving private medical updates to family |
| Encouraging resident choices | Pressuring a resident to make your shift easier |
Ethical Principles
Common healthcare ethics include:
- Autonomy: respect resident choices.
- Beneficence: promote resident well-being.
- Nonmaleficence: avoid harm.
- Justice: treat residents fairly.
- Fidelity: keep appropriate commitments.
- Veracity: be truthful.
Exam Clues
If an answer humiliates a resident, retaliates, shares private information, accepts gifts, ignores pain, or hides an error, it is usually wrong.
If an answer preserves dignity, reports honestly, asks for help, supports choice, or follows policy, it is usually stronger.
Handling Mistakes
Everyone can make a mistake. The professional response is to protect the resident, report promptly, and document honestly. Hiding errors creates more risk than the original mistake.
A resident offers a CNA $20 for being kind. What should the CNA do?
Which action best demonstrates resident autonomy?