In the conduct of their professional activities the Respiratory Care Practitioner shall be bound by the following ethical and professional principles. Respiratory Care Practitioners shall:

• Demonstrate behavior that reflects integrity, supports objectivity, and fosters trust in the profession and its professionals.

• Actively maintain and continually improve their professional competence, and represent it accurately.

• Perform only those procedures or functions in which they are individually competent and which are within the scope of accepted and responsible practice.

• Respect and protect the legal and personal rights of patients they treat, including the right to informed consent and refusal of treatment.

• Divulge no confidential information regarding any patient or family unless disclosure is required for responsible performance of duty, or required by law.

• Provide care without discrimination on any basis, with respect for the rights and dignity of all individuals.

• Promote disease prevention and wellness.

• Refuse to participate in illegal or unethical acts, and shall refuse to conceal illegal, unethical or incompetent acts of others.

• Follow sound scientific procedures and ethical principles in research.

• Comply with state or federal laws which govern and relate to their practice.

• Avoid any form of conduct that creates a conflict of interest, and shall follow the principles of ethical business behavior.

• Promote the positive evolution of the profession, and health care in general, through improvement of the access, efficacy, and cost of patient care.

• Refrain from indiscriminate and unnecessary use of resources, both economic and natural, in their practice.

In effect since December 1994.