Professional Practice and Ethics
Professional practice and ethics tests scope, consent, documentation, conflicts of interest, and interprofessional behavior.
Core rules
- Scope of practice: provide care you are trained and authorized to deliver; refer when the question exceeds your competence or license.
- Consent and assent: obtain informed consent from caregivers and developmentally appropriate assent from the child.
- Confidentiality: share information only as needed for care and according to law.
- Documentation: record assessment, diagnosis or nutrition problem, intervention, monitoring plan, and goals in measurable terms.
- Evidence and conflicts: use current evidence; disclose gifts, bonuses, or relationships that could bias recommendations.
- Equity: recognize bias and use cultural humility.
Worked example
A supplement representative offers a bonus for recommending a product to every pediatric patient. Decline the arrangement, disclose the contact if required, and continue recommending products only when clinically indicated and evidence-based.
Traps
Practicing outside scope; documenting interventions that were not provided; breaching privacy; accepting industry pressure; ignoring caregiver health literacy.