Title: Apply medical ethics in a clinical setting.
Course: Sterile Processing Technician II > Section: Communicating in the Healthcare Workplace

Applying medical ethics should include

- ensuring patients' rights
- maintaining confidentiality
- exercising sterile consciousness
- exhibiting honesty in all transactions
- ensuring that medical procedures are carried out to the best of one's ability (e.g., medical asepsis, testing, and medical record-keeping).

Following the professional code of conduct for sterile processing technicians should include careful attention to stay within the scope of practice as a member of the medical team. It should also include identifying the legality and/or ethics surrounding medicine.

Process/Skill Questions:

- What is the difference between law and ethics?
- What is the purpose of a code of professional ethics? What ethical principles are sterile processing technicians expected to uphold?
- What should a sterile processing technician do if he or she believes that a patient's rights have been violated?
- Can a sterile processing technician be sued for malpractice? Explain.