Medical Office Procedures Unit 2

The first ethical issue that counselors have to worry about in counseling children is to be a competent counselor. It includes that the counselor must be familiar with child and adolescent development. Also, in order to be competent in counseling children, a counselor must frequently participate in trainings, specialized education, and supervised practice (Henderson & Thompson, 2011). Another ethical issue in counseling minors is privacy and confidentiality. According to the American Counseling Association (ACA) (2014) Code of Ethics, when counseling minors a counselors protect the confidentiality of information received (ACA, 2014, B.5.a). Counselors also have responsibilities with the child’s parents such as inform parents about the role of counselors and the confidential nature of the counseling relationship (ACA, 2014, B.5.b). When a counselors needs to release confidential information, he needs to seek permission from the child’s parents, legal guardians, or the appropriate third party in order to disclose the information (ACA, 2014, B.5.c). According to Henderson and Thompson (2011), children have to have their parents’ consent to see a

Before a clinical begins to counselor a minor, the counselor must receive written permission from the legal guidance or parent. Informed consent is essential because the client may not understand what is being measured and how the results will be used. If the parent does give the school consent to participate in the examination or testing for psychological services, the test results should be offered in a language that the parent, students, their teachers, and administers understand (Association for Assessment in Counseling, 2003). Therefore, the counselor should include background information that would help explain the test results. Also, the test administers should know the measurement characteristics (Association for Assessment in Counseling, 2003). Therefore, the test administers should be able to answer questions regarding the test results, what assessment was used, and the

There’s a line between child and adult, and it can be fuzzy, So how do we in the YellowHammer State define between adults and minors.All states have minor laws, the age in which a citizen is considered an adult in the eyes of the law.In Alabama, has legal process referred to (Emancipation) the legal age is 19 years old; the age of majority Code of Alabama 26-1-1 minors still have legal rights and responsibilities.A 15-year old can enter into an insurance contract, under the Alabama laws.Under Code of Alabama 26-13-1 at age 18 they are eligible for emancipation, in laymen's terms, they are at the age

The overall goal for any policy or procedure document is for the design to be simple, consistent, and easy to use. Policies are written in clear, concise, simple language. Policy statements address what is the rule rather than how to implement the rule. Procedures are tied to policies. Making explicit this relationship along with

One reason why teenagers should have the right to confidential medical treatments is so they can deal with their issues as effectively and timely as possible. When minors present their medical problems to their physicians, some of them can be emergencies. These situations can appear in a circumstance such as the patient waiting so long to get a doctor’s opinion of their illness or injury that they are at risk of serious consequences if it is not treated immediately. In some cases, there is no time to receive parental consent or approval, and medical procedure must happen as soon as possible. The patient is most desperate for attention in emergency situations and they should be able to consent to procedures so that they can be performed quickly. “Emergency physicians shall

Although all citizens are protected the by the United States Constitution, minors are categorized as a special group; preventing them from making decisions without their guardian’s consent. Thus, under the parameters set by the Constitution, at the age of sixteen, Wendy should not be permitted to refuse chemotherapy treatment. Contrarily, in some states, if Wendy establishes her independence from her parents or at least is able to demonstrate a high level of maturity, she may be allowed to dictate her medical treatment (Mernikoff, 2001).

Many waver at the thought of turning to prescription pills when diagnosed with any illness. However, it seems as if when it comes to minors and depression the first step taken by the parents is to sign their child up for antidepressants. “Minors who cannot legally consent to treatment must still give their assent; hence, it is an agreement though not with the legal status of ‘informed consent’ (Koelch). Before adults receive any form of medicine, they must provide consent. Why is the same rule not applied to minors? Truthfully, minors might not even be aware of what they are taking, which brings the ethics of the parent and doctor into question.

Informed consent, by definition, requires the administering health care provider to disclose appropriate information to a competent patient, and allow that patient sufficient time to choose, voluntarily, whether to accept or refuse treatment (Appelbaum, 2007). For children, the law upholds an inability to provide their own informed consent as they lack the decisive ability inherent in consent (Appelbaum, 2007). Thereby, for children, a proxy, as determined by the state laws, chooses the course of treatment on their behalf (Appelbaum, 2007). Furthermore, for children of, an undesignated, reasonable age, a consultation about assent, or willingness for acceptance of treatment or care, should follow a guardian’s decision (Appelbaum, 2007). Responsibility

According to Dictionary.com confidentiality is “the right of an individual to have personal, identifiable medical information kept private.” The definition for this term is widely known in health care, but when it is applied to adolescents many people do not understand the basics. Doctors are responsible for informing adolescent patients and their parents the privacy a minor is given according to federal and state laws, but in some cases doctors fail to do so. This results in the misunderstanding of minor’s privacy rights, which can lead to the adolescent patient not disclosing significant information, and the parents assuming they have the right to all of their child’s medical records. Because of this, it is important for adolescents and their parents to understand the nature of confidentiality in health care.

The four ethical principles of Beauchamp and Childress’s framework are essential in the medical decision making for adolescent patients. Those bioethics principles include justice, beneficence, non-maleficence, and autonomy (Ishibashi, Lewis, & Baker, 2016). Generally, all patients regardless of their age should be involved in their care along with their families. Moreover, patients are entitled to certain degree of autonomy or assent according to their cognitive levels, which involve self-determination of providing informed consent and accepting or refusing treatment (Ivey & Browen, 2012). For many years, there was a growing literature to support adolescences involvement in clinical decision making of their care. In 2000, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child added articles 12 and 13 states that all children have the right to convey their thoughts and express their opinion openly. Those articles obligate governments to establish reinforcement of autonomy. In light of the ethical and legal obligations pediatric health care providers modified the respect of minor’s autonomy principle. This modification addresses the developmental cognitive capacity in adolescent population to establish the legal responsibility of minor’s decision making. Adolescents intellectual growth and ability to analyze all the benefits, risks and treatment goals must be

There should not be interference from parents, doctors, or the legal system if a minor does not want a specific type of treatment. All that should be done for the minor is to make sure that they understand the possible risks of forgoing treatment. Autonomy and justice are the ethical principles that should be applied to this policy. Autonomy is the right to making informed and rational decisions (Bioethic Tools). If the patient is aware of the possible dangers of not getting certain medical attention and is a competent individual and they still refuse, then their autonomy should be respected. Justice is the right to being treated fairly and equally (Bioethic Tools). If a minor if forced to undergo any type of medical procedure simply because they are minors who supposedly cannot make decisions without the help of adults is injustice. Everyone should be treated fairly and equally regardless of age. Any medical treatment that is unwanted by a patient and is performed anyway is a violation of their rights and is extremely

Billy has presented a problem of substance abuse and wants to receive help on an out patient basis. Problem is Billy is 12 years old. In the State of California Billy is considered a minor and according to California family code 6929(B) we do not need to notify parents . However because psychologists are licenced under the state of California board we are obligated to inform his parents when and if billy should need replacement narcotics for treatment. (Cal. Family Code § 6929(e)). Confidentiality issues involving minors can be particularly challenging. Ethics guidelines, laws, regulations, agency policies, and clinical judgment sometimes conflict, thus creating a daunting ethical dilemma.

In such cases, temporary custody is removed from the parents and a specific guardian (termed a “guardian ad litem”) is appointed to make medical decisions for the minor” (huffingtonpost.com). Now I can understand if the Cassandra’s mother didn’t have the best interest for her but she was just following her 17-year olds wishes. Within the 6 months of the chemotherapy she would be not be a minor anymore.

Denying healthcare to a patient who has a parental consent on file at the school is considered unlawful. According to (Huang, 2009) there currently is no law that regulates the requirement of a parent to be present during appointments with the SBHC. The consent signed by the students’ parent does not specifically state that a parents must be present or actively involved in his care. Based on this the NP is legally obligated to continue to provide care to the student. Westrick (2014) states that a civil action is a dispute between individuals that was designed to award monetary compensation to individual for being harmed. A nurse can be involved in cases such as malpractice, injury lawsuits, workers compensation, and employment

Policy is shorthand for 'public policy considerations'. Policy considerations were recognised in the Wilberforce test and the test in Caparo v Dickman.