FAA: No Psychological Testing Needed Of Airline Pilots
I. Case Synopsis
On June 9, 2016, the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) announced specific actions that it will take in response to the issue concerning pilot’s mental health. These actions were formulated using recommendations made by Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC).
A year after the Germanwings tragic event, we have seen disappointing efforts by FAA in strengthening the security for passengers and crew. The murder-suicide crash last year killed over 150 passengers. It focused attention on how airliners and regulators can better monitor pilots’ mental health and improve aviation safety. In response to the event, many international agencies of aviation safety encouraged a
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The most evaluated aspects are the hiring standard and ongoing evaluation of pilots. Currently, no psychological testing is required for airline pilots. Although most airliners choose to incorporate psychological testing in their hiring process, but these tests were primarily designed as personality test. The test was used to examine whether a pilot will fit well in the company and do little to uncover the mental state and fitness of the pilot.
The most important source of mental health information came from pilot 's self-reported health form. Besides the self-reported health form, airliners relied heavily on annual medical examination administered by FAA certified examiner to discern mental health profile of their pilots. However, the exam was devoted to examine pilot 's physical conditions where examiners were not required to ask mental health questions. The mental health was evaluated based on their conversation with the pilot during the exam.
ii. Patient Confidentiality Concerns
Medical practitioners are not obliged to disclose medical condition to authorities. In fact, doctors who reports such information were often charged with criminal offense for violating patient confidentiality agreement. Patient confidentiality in the U.S. is regulated by federal law. It
Although Immanuel Kant believes truth should be always be told despite the circumstances, is it really in the best interest of the patient in a medical setting? Physicians have a duty to the patient to take care of their wellbeing and that is why they take the Hippocratic Oath. Sometimes you have to be wishy washy with the truth, but only when it is in the interest of the patient and it depends case by case. Bad news can cause a patient to feel hopeless, fearful, and depressive which may cause other problems in any procedure. Kant also argues that confidentiality gives the patient autonomy and self-determination. Full disclosure would help the patient understand the severity of the case and thus, make better decisions in regards to their health.
According to Higgs, one reason why a medical profession might withhold the truth from the patient is that : it may actually do harm through anxiety and distress that's produced after disclosing the truth. At times, truth-telling can lead to major/acute distress or long term disability. There can also be times where distress and fear can lead to a more severe condition of an illness or even causing a patient to deny the treatment. In either way, there is a high chance that the worsening of the illness may occur after a physician disclosing the truth to his/her
The only person that can disclose information of their own medical record is the patient. Some exception where the information can be use without the patient document law issues to protect the patient concern as Criminal Acts, Legal Ordered, Communicable Diseases and Mandated.
Currently, most people generally accept a doctor’s word as truth and do not question him or her. When it comes to the medical field, patients can often feel overwhelmed by all the confusing medical terms being thrown at them, so they tend to sit back and do as the doctor says. Healthcare professionals sometimes take advantage of this fact and withhold important information from their patients. For instance, a study conducted by Lisa Lezzoni, MD, and her peers states that more than half of physicians lied to their patients about their diagnosis to put a more positive spin on it (Lezzoni, Rao, DesRoches, Vogeli, and Campbell). Healthcare professionals should disclose to the patient any information pertaining to the patient.
Considering the doctors or those that examine pilots to allow them to fly, they should be knowledgeable in not only the physical factors but mental ones as well. This would include being familiar with the signs of depression and alcoholism. The evaluation should also consist of more than yes or no questions to rule out any possibility of the pilot having any mental health issues.
Confidentiality in the Healthcare arena can be simply defined as the moral and ethical duty of the Practitioner to keep all the patient’s bio-data under lock and key, and offer a disclosure of those facts that the patient is legally mandated to disclose or deems fit to enhance their positive health outcome. According to the Segen’s Medical Dictionary, “Confidentiality is the ethical principle that a physician may not reveal any information disclosed in the course of medical care, unless the patient who disclosed that information poses a threat to him, herself or others’’
The short answer is, no. Collecting and receiving information about a possible threat to public health is sanctioned under HIPAA Privacy Rule. Although permission is not needed to report a communicable disease, the patient is notified of exposure to prevent or control any epidemic. Often times the patient is encouraged to speak with their spouses/partners, if they refuse to do so, it falls under the physicians responsibility to seek out those partners. Public health and safety is very important.
Confidentiality is considered a core value or principal in the medical practice. Confidentiality is a right that all people have within the medical field. This is the requirement of health care providers to keep a person’s information exclusive unless the patient or the person consents in the form of a release to share that information with other people that practice. Usually the consent is given when a doctor wants to consult with a different doctor for example. In this case it would be for the betterment of the person.
In fact the government should not be allowed to reveal any information about you, such as with doctor patient confidentiality unless it is of national security or of a certain nature of crime.
In modern aviation, pilot fatigue has become a vital problem that needs urgent intervention. The full effect of fatigue is frequently unforeseen however, many of its harmful effects have been known for a long time. When comparing with individuals who usually have enough rest, individuals who suffer from fatigue act slowly, have difficulties in memory, and are involved in many mistakes. In addition, the negative impact can or may lead to aviation accidents and errors (Caldwell, Mallis, Caldwell, Paul, Miller, & Neri, 2009).
This assignment focuses on analyzing the sociology of a commercial airline pilot’s job and the working environment in this increasingly influential sector. An airline pilot carries great responsibility and their job comes with a magnitude of risks. It is both a physically and mentally demanding career choice that requires one to remain calm under pressure whilst operating in a different time zone and unpredictable weather conditions, as well as having to meet the health requirements such as perfect vision and coordination (to name a few). Commercial aviation is one of the world’s biggest sectors and so the magnitude of research is immense, however the aim of this research assignment is to focus on tensions and trends surrounding the occupation of commercial airline pilots; such as gender inequality and stereotypes, as women continue to face gender barriers due to the industry being dominated by males since the heyday of the aviation sector (Germain, M., Herzog, M., & Hamilton, P., 2012). Additionally the stresses surrounding the unconventional work environment, as airline employees tend to work on eight to fifteen hour shifts, however on occasion flight delays may require them to exceed the length of the shift (Tourigny, Vishwanath & Wang, 2010). This unpredictability in scheduling policies may contribute to an increased level of job as well as family-related stress, even burnouts in some cases, which impacts on the well being of employees. Finally the analysis concludes
Nick is a 36 year old Caucasian male. His occupation sees him travelling frequently by air. Nick has an excessive fear of flying and becomes anxious, and at times is unable to board the plane. Nick states that before boarding the plane he becomes anxiety, gets nervous, his palms become sweaty, and he often experiences shortness of breath. Nick’s goal of counselling is too be able to comfortably fly again
A psychological assessment is the venture of a capable experts, generally a psychologist, to operate the techniques and tools or materials of psychology to ascertain either common or unique facts about another person, either to notify others how they function now, or estimate their attitude,behavior and functioning in the future. The issue of assessment is generally diagnosis or classification. These are the movement of placing a person in a certainly or loosely characterized category of people. This leads to swiftly grasp what they are similar in general, and to evaluate the existence of other thematic features based upon people similar or likely to them. Case history data, clinical interview, psychological tests and behavioral observations
Doctors think that they have the right not to tell the truth to their patients because of their paternalistic view. They point at patients’ misunderstanding of diagnosis because of the esoteric information and patients’ lacking of making best choices due to their illnesses or medicine to support this view. Although these are true, doctors just think for one side and they generalize it. To go into further detail, knowing the truth is a
In this section I will discuss about the causes of stress in a pilots life and this are as follows: unusual tasks and challenges faced by pilots, passing the medical examinations, problems with family, illness, time schedules, temperature and humidity etc. Stress, a state of highly unpleasant emotional arousal associated variously with overload, fear, anxiety anger and hostility – can threaten both individual performance and teamwork. It can undermine the