LABORATORY ETHICS
AND
PROFESSIONALISM
PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS AND CODE
OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
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Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, students are
expected to be able to:Define the following terms:Confidentiality and Privacy
Describe Principles of Ethics and
Professional Conduct for Health Laboratory
Practitioners
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Definition of Terms
 Confidentiality:
The ethical obligation to
keep someone’s personal and private
information secret or private.
 Privacy: Self ownership; the right of an
individual to be free of undesirable
interaction.
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Principles of Ethics and Professional Conduct for
Health Laboratory Practitioners
The Principles for ethics and code of
professional conduct
 The underlining Principles for
Ethics and Code of
Professional conduct for health laboratory
technologists are based on the following principles:
Obligation
to do good
 The Obligation to
do good and to avoid doing harm,
is a human value which guides the Health
Laboratory Practitioners to act positively to
safeguard and promote the interest of the
individual, client and society in general.
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Principles of Ethics and Professional Conduct for
Health Laboratory Practitioners cont’d
In so doing, the Health Laboratory Practitioner shall:
 Be constantly on guard in judgment in the face of
many outside pressures that may be exerted on
him.
 Be entitled to decline to collect specimen and
conduct health laboratory investigations, which he
believes to be inappropriate or detrimental to the
client’s welfare.
 Refuse to condone, facilitate, allow or coordinate
laboratory investigations which are detrimental to
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the client’s welfare.
Principles of Ethics and Professional Conduct
for Health Laboratory Practitioners cont’d
 Practice
his profession with conscience and
dignity.
 Not delegate to a person who is not a
qualified health laboratory practitioner tasks
of health laboratory work.
 Take appropriate action if the workload and
pressure on professional colleagues and
juniors may endanger safe standards of
practice.
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Confidentiality and Privacy
 Confidentiality is the principle, which refers to
limitation to access to clients private information; it is
a foundation upon which a Health Laboratory
Practitioner’s relationship with a client is built and it
underlies the trust and willingness of the client that
allow the Health Laboratory Practitioner to access the
client’s information.
Thus the Health Laboratory Practitioner shall: Respect the confidential and personal nature of
professional records.
 Protect the patient’s right to privacy by keeping the
information in the strictest confidence.
 Be aware that the information a patient gives to the
Health Laboratory Practitioner remains the property of
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Confidentiality and Privacy cont’d
Be aware that the findings, which the health
laboratory practitioners obtain as a result of
laboratory investigations, remains to be
confidential
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Accountability
 Accountability
and responsibility shall be based on
the context that the Health Laboratory Practitioner
is ready and willing to ensure and account for any
action taken, the consequence arising and to accept
fault from such action.
 Thus the Health Laboratory Practitioners shall: Comply with provisions of the act and other laws
regulating the profession.
 Observe professional responsibility for practice and
adhere to standards of practice and total quality
system.
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Self Confidence
 Confidence
is based on the concept that a Health
Laboratory Practitioner is required to build and
develop positive and realistic attitude towards
himself. It further requires a Health Laboratory
Practitioner to trust his personal ability and
possessing sense of control of decisions or
judgment; this involves capability to:Uphold and maintain the dignity and respect of
the profession and strive for maintaining a
reputation of honesty, integrity and reliability.
Hold himself out as a person who, by training
and experience, is professionally qualified to
diagnosis diseases
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Competence and Professional
Advancement
Perform his work within the scope of his competence and
professional preparation.
Take every reasonable opportunity to improve and sustain
his knowledge, skills and professional competence.
Request for support when he perceives the need.
Provide expert advice and consult other health
professionals. Be dedicated to the use of health laboratory
sciences to benefit mankind.
Exercise professional judgment, skills and care while
meeting established standards and quality systems.
Strive for improvement of professional skills and
knowledge and adopt scientific advancement that benefits
the patient and other users.
Strive for improvement of the delivery of reliable test
results.
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Truthfulness Fidelity Loyalty
The principle of truthfulness imposes duty on the
Health Laboratory Practitioners to be honest and
truthful in the course of their practice
The Health Laboratory Practitioner is obliged to
respect the inherent trust that exists in his
relationship with the clients. It requires him to
communicate truthfully and without deception or
deceit.
In the event of adverse events to a procedure, drug,
device or reagent, the Health Laboratory Practitioner
shall communicate that information to relevant
authorities.
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Truthfulness Fidelity Loyalty cont’d
The Health Laboratory Practitioner shall observe
fidelity by keeping promises that are made and
requires not representing in a false or misleading
manner.
The Health Laboratory Practitioner shall not
perform or recommend laboratory investigation
procedures that are not necessary
 Neither share fees for providing laboratory
services in a false or misleading manner.
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Truthfulness, Fidelity Loyalty cont’d
Safety and Protection:
 Workers in Health (Medical) laboratories are
exposed to many dangers, not only from infected
material, but also from the dangerous compounds
and apparatus which they use in their daily
routine.
 Similarly, laboratory and equipment needs to be
protected from fire hazards.
 To minimize the risk of infections and accidents,
certain safety precautions must be enforced.
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Truthfulness, Fidelity Loyalty cont’d
 These
precautions should be observed by all
members of the laboratory staff to protect
themselves and those who are obliged to visit
the laboratory.
In so observing, the Health Laboratory
Practitioners shall: Follow safe working practices to ensure that
patients and others are not put at risk.
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Truthfulness, Fidelity Loyalty cont’d
 Know
what to do should any accident or fire occur
and how to apply emergency First Aid.
 Use equipment and laboratory reagents correctly
and avoid wastage of reagents or other laboratory
supplies.
 Properly de-contaminate all bench surfaces, wastes
or re-usable materials before disposal or re-use.
 Keep laboratory premises in clean and tidy
conditions at all time.
 Display and abide by the laboratory
safety rules and regulations!
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Truthfulness, Fidelity Loyalty cont’d
Justice
 Justice is manifested in fairness, equitableness and
impartiality in what is due or required by another
person. Health care systems, including health
laboratory services, face shortages and scarcity of
resources.
Given the circumstances, a
Health Laboratory Practitioner shall: Use wisdom and judgment to ensure that the
limited resources are used fairly.
Treat all clients fairly and equitably based on
needs, regardless of factors such as economic
status, religion, race, sex, tribe, age, political
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affiliation or physical disability
Truthfulness, Fidelity Loyalty cont’d
Good relationship:
Trust and honesty are the benchmarks of the
relationship between a Health Laboratory
Practitioner, clinician, client and other stakeholders.
With reference to relationship with clients and
patients, it is the duty of every Health Laboratory
Practitioner to:




Inform a person with whom he has a professional contact,
the nature of the relationship.
Respect the customs, value ,spiritual beliefs and human
dignity of patients.
Respect the physical and physiological needs of patients.
Avoid any abuse of the privilege relationship with patients.
Promote and safeguard the well being and interests of 18
Truthfulness, Fidelity Loyalty cont’d
 Refuse to accept any gift, favour or hospitality that
might be interpreted as seeking to exegete under
influence to obtain preferential treatment;
 Take into consideration that clients, patients and
accompanying relatives can easily be embarrassed,
ashamed or fearful in the course of collecting specimen
for laboratory investigations: Thus health laboratory
practitioner shall: show humanity, kindness and understanding towards
them;
 do his best to relieve them of hidden fears and
apprehension;
 Encourage and restore confidence in the client with
regard consent to laboratory investigation.
 With regard to consent to laboratory investigations, the trust of
patients and clients that the consent to laboratory investigation will
not be misused is essential in the relationship with the Health Lab.
Practitioner
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Truthfulness, Fidelity Loyalty cont’d
Personal presentation and attire:
At a place of work, a Health Laboratory
Practitioner shall:
Appear smart, properly and decently dressed in
proper attire with identification tags and behave
in a manner becoming of professional;
Be at all times courteous to patients and clients,
and be considerate to colleagues
Do not consume alcohol or take unprescribed
drugs that could interfere with his performance
during laboratory working hours or when on
emergency stand-by.
Assignment:- Group work on relationship
Discuss best ways of creating good relationship
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End
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