Hepatitis B virus infected physicians and disclosure of transmission risks to patients: A critical analysis

BACKGROUND: The potential for transmission of blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis B virus from infected healthcare workers to patients is an important and difficult issue facing healthcare policymakers internationally. Law and policy on the subject is still in its infancy, and subject to a great degree of uncertainty and controversy. Policymakers have made few recommendations regarding the specifics of practice restriction for health care workers who are hepatitis B seropositive. Generally, they have deferred this work to vaguely defined "expert panels" which will have the power to dictate the conditions under which infected health care workers may continue to practice. DISCUSSION: In this paper we use recent Canadian policy statements as a critical departure point to propose more specific recommendations regarding disclosure of transmission risks in a way that minimizes practice restriction of hepatitis B seropositive health care workers without compromising patient safety. The range of arguments proposed in the literature are critically examined from the perspective of ethical analysis. SUMMARY: A process for considering the ethical implications of the disclosure of the sero-status of health care workers is advanced that considers the varied perspectives of different stakeholders

View from the witness stand: licensed counselors’ experiences providing court testimony

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how licensed professional counselors (LPCs) experienced court testimony. Data was collected through interviews with 11 LPCs, all graduates from CACREP accredited programs. The following four themes emerged: (1) unprepared for court testimony; (2) ethical dilemmas in court testimony; (3) emotional responses to court testimony; and (4) professional identity and court testimony. The authors provide suggestions for training programs to contextualize court testimony within counselor professional identity