Chapter 5: Professional Roles and Behaviors

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering professional ethics, legal terminology, patient rights, and record-keeping principles from Chapter 5.

Empathetic Care

An approach to patient care in which understanding and compassion are accompanied by an objective detachment that enables the caregiver to act appropriately.

Burnout

A response to the chronic strain of dealing with the constant demands and problems of people under care, typically causing exhaustion, dissatisfaction, anxiety, apathy, depersonalization, and withdrawal.

Ethics

A branch of philosophy defined as a systematic reflection on morality, consisting of moral principles or values.

Personal Morality

Lessons of right and wrong that were taught to an individual at an early age.

Group Morality

Moral principles that apply specifically to certain groups of people, such as healthcare professionals' duties to provide due care, maintain competence, and protect patient confidentiality.

Moral Agent

The person responsible for implementing an ethical decision.

The Rules of Ethics

Mandatory, specific, and enforceable standards of minimally acceptable professional conduct for all registered technologists, enforced by the ARRT.

The Code of Ethics

An aspirational document within the ARRT Standards of Ethics that provides general ethical guidance for radiographers.

Consequentialism

An ethical theory asserting that an action is right if the outcome is good, based on the belief that the end justifies the means.

Nonconsequentialism

An ethical theory maintaining that actions are inherently right or wrong based on rules, duties, or laws, regardless of whether the outcome is good or bad.

Ethics of Care

A situational ethics perspective demanding that moral judgments reflect community values like respect, patience, tact, and kindness, while placing high value on virtues such as compassion and faithfulness.

Rights-Based Ethics

An ethical framework emphasizing the rights of individuals in a democratic society to be shielded from undue restriction or harm.

Beneficence

A moral principle emphasizing goodness, holding that actions bringing about good are considered right.

Nonmaleficence

A moral principle meaning 'no evil' that creates an obligation not to inflict harm.

Veracity

A moral principle defined as truth, establishing an obligation to tell the truth.

Fidelity

A moral principle defined as faithfulness, denoting an obligation to be loyal or faithful.

Justice

A moral principle defined as fairness, demanding an obligation to act with equity.

Autonomy

A moral principle centering on self-determination, respecting the independence of others, and acting with self-reliance.

Ethical Analysis

The four-step process for evaluating situations where the correct action is in question: identifying the problem, developing alternate solutions, selecting the best solution, and defending the selection.

Informed Consent

A patient right requiring three criteria to be met before a procedure: informing the patient of all risks, all benefits, and any potential alternatives.

Plaintiff

The person or party who claims they have been harmed or injured and initiates a civil lawsuit.

Defendant

The person or party accused of a crime or sued in a lawsuit who must defend that they did not cause harm or injury.

Felony

A serious crime that may be punished by imprisonment.

Misdemeanor

A less significant crime usually punished by a fine or imprisonment for less than a year.

Tort

A civil wrong committed by one individual against the person or property of another, categorized as either intentional misconduct or negligence.

Assault

An intentional tort involving a threatening act that causes apprehension of immediate harm.

Battery

An intentional tort involving an unlawful, nonconsensual physical act or contact with another person.

False Imprisonment

An intentional tort involving the unauthorized holding or physical restraint of a patient without legal consent.

Libel

A written defamation of character.

Slander

A verbal or spoken defamation of character.

Respondeat Superior

A legal doctrine meaning 'let the master answer,' holding an employer legally responsible for negligent acts committed by employees within the scope of employment.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

A legal doctrine meaning 'the thing speaks for itself,' applied when a patient's injury is of a nature that would not occur in the absence of negligence.

Advance Directives

Legal documents such as a Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney, or DNR order formulated by a competent individual to outline future healthcare decisions or appoint a surrogate.

Radiology Information Management System (RIMS)

An imaging-specific documentation system (also known as RIS) providing access to patient room numbers, allergies, test reports, and billing, but not health history or plans of care.

Electronic Medical Record (EMR)

A digital compilation of a patient's complete medical history and care information, commonly referred to as an e-chart.

Charting

The formal process of recording accurate, objective, and pertinent data into a permanent and confidential medical record.

Diagnostic Image Retention Period

The legal timeframe of 5 to 7 years during which healthcare institutions are required to retain diagnostic images as part of the medical record.

Incident Report

A formal notification filed immediately with a supervisor or radiologist following any fall, accident, or occurrence resulting in injury or potential harm as part of risk management.

Seven Cs of Malpractice Prevention

A set of guidelines for avoiding medical litigation: Competence, Compliance, Charting, Communication, Confidentiality, Courtesy, and Caution.