Everyday Ethics: Dos and Don ’ts for Clinical Supervisors of Students

What if a graduate student doing their speech-language pathology clinical placement—or audiology externship—was asked by their supervisor to perform a procedure on their own. And they are unsure about their readiness to do such a procedure flying solo. The short answer? As a student, you aren’t yet obligated to abide by ASHA’s Code of Ethics. However, your ASHA-certified supervisor is so obliged. The answer to the questions below raises some ethical considerations a supervisor should consider. I’m a graduate student, and my clinical placement is in a hospital. SLP graduate student clinician:  After performing the bedside clinical swallow examination twice to patients with dysphagia under my supervisor’s oversight, she has asked me to complete future assessments by myself. Audiology graduate student clinician: After performing and interpreting one OAE (otoacoustic emissions) test on a patient with my supervisor, she has asked that in the future I handle all OAE testing and interpretation.  I really need a good rating from her at the end of the semester, but I’m not sure I’m ready to do this solo. How should I handle? In hospitals, supervisors often shadow students 100% because of patients’ medical fragility and for hospitals to receive reimbursement for services. But you aren’t alone in asking this question. While a good relationship with your supervisor is important, raising a difficult issue doesn’t pose the same risks as performing services for whi...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Academia & Research Audiology Health Care Private Practice Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Professional Development supervision Source Type: blogs