As health care professional engaged in the performance of respiratory care, Respiratory Care Practitioners must strive, both individually and collectively, to maintain the highest personal and professional standards.
The principles set forth in this document define the basic ethical and moral standards to which each member of the American Association for Respiratory Care should conform.
The respiratory care practitioner shall practice medically acceptable methods of treatment and shall not endeavor to extend his/her practice beyond his/her competence and the authority vested in him/her by the physician.
The respiratory care practitioner shall continually strive to increase and improve his/her knowledge and skill and render to each patient the full measure of his/her ability. All services shall be provided with respect for the dignity of the patient, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.
The respiratory care practitioner shall be responsible for the competent and efficient performance of his/her assigned duties and shall expose incompetence and illegal or unethical conduct of members of the profession.
The respiratory care practitioner shall hold in strict confidence all privileged information concerning the patient and refer all inquiries to the physician in charge of the patient’s medical care.
The respiratory care practitioner shall not accept gratuities for preferential consideration of the patient. He/She shall guard against conflicts of interest.
The respiratory care practitioner shall uphold the dignity and honor of the profession and abide by its ethical principles. He/She should be familiar with existing state and federal laws governing the practice of respiratory care and comply with those laws.
The respiratory care practitioner shall cooperate with other health care professional and participate in activities to promote community and national efforts to meet the health needs of the public.
As health care professionals engaged in the performance of cardiopulmonary care, the practitioners of this profession must strive to maintain the highest personal and professional standards. A most important standard in the profession is for that practitioner to serve as a role model in matters concerning health.
In addition to upholding the code of ethics of this profession by continually striving to render the highest quality of patient care possible, the respiratory care practitioner shall set himself/herself apart as a leader and advocate of public respiratory health.
The respiratory care practitioner shall participate in activities leading to awareness of the causes and prevention of pulmonary disease and the problems associated with the cardiopulmonary system.
The respiratory care practitioner shall support the development and promotion of pulmonary disease awareness programs, to include smoking cessation programs, pulmonary function screenings, air pollution monitoring, allergy warnings, and other public education programs.
The respiratory care practitioner shall support research in all areas where efforts could promote improved health and could prevent disease.
The respiratory care practitioner shall provide leadership in determining health promotion and disease prevention activities for students, faculty, practitioners, patients, and the general public.
The respiratory care practitioner shall serve as a physical example of cardiopulmonary health by abstaining from tobacco use and shall make a special personal effort to eliminate smoking and the use of other tobacco products form his/her home and work environment.
The respiratory care practitioner shall uphold himself as a model for all members of the health care team by demonstrating his/her responsibilities and shall cooperate with other health care professionals to meet the health needs of the public.