Code of Ethics for Respiratory Care
As health care professionals 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 practice beyond his or her competence and the authority given by the physician.
- The respiratory care practitioner shall continually strive to increase and improve knowledge and skill and render to each patient the full measure of his or 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 the 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 and 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. The practitioner 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 professionals and participate in activities to promote community and national efforts to meet the health needs of the public.
