Monday, August 10, 2009

Professional Practice Blog 3 Ethics Due date: Friday 14th August Hannah Howley

Professional Practice
Blog 3
Ethics
Due date: Friday 14th August
Hannah Howley


Massage therapy and relationship with ethical considerations.


Ethics have become more and more increasingly particular in hands-on practices such as Massage Therapy. Agreeing upon which is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in the way of ethical considerations remains to be difficult.

We, as massage therapists, remain responsible for the health, safety and comfort of our clients and it is our duty to maintain these responsibilities.
Ethical considerations, to name a few that we need to take in to consideration are;

- Race & Colour
- Culture
- Age
- Sex
- Religion

All of these are important topics to look at. All clients are going to be individual and different from the client before and it is important to find out such things about your client before you ask them to do things for you, i.e. taking off clothing and lying under drapes. With regards to race and religion, this can be seen as culturally offensive and inappropriate (including any other person). Communication is very important when taking clients through your chosen assessment procedure. You have to make sure that they are aware of what you are going to be doing, where about on the body you will be working and whether or not they are comfortable with that decision. You, as a massage therapist also have to be ready to understand and respect the choice of the client if their decision does not match your own.


Client Relationships

Client relationships must be maintained at the highest level of interpersonal relationships. It must be of utmost professionalism. According to the code of ethics written by MNZ;


- A practitioner shall endeavour to serve the best interests of their clients at all times and provide the highest quality service possible.


- A practitioner shall at all times respect the confidence of their client and diagnostic
findings acquired during consultation and/or treatment shall not be divulged to anyone
without the client’s consent, except when required by law or where failure to do so
would constitute a menace or danger to the client or another member of the community.


- A practitioner shall not enter into an intimate or sexual relationship with a patient whilst
the patient is under their care. (MNZ Code of Ethics, pdf)

The Massage Therapist and their responsibilities to themselves,

It is ethical, that the massage therapist, or anyone working in the business, strives to achieve professional appearance and image of themselves and the profession in general.
The MT should have all qualifications displayed on the wall or on a desk (any where visible to the clients) and it should be done so honestly.
The MT should at all times make sure the treatment and treatment process is coincided with the relevant scope of practice and that all techniques used are suitable to the existing condition.

Practitioners should always maintain the professionalism of the clinic. It must always have a code of ethics and clients rights and responsibilities visible on entry to the client. The MT must not interfere with any ongoing treatment given by any other practitioner and must call the other health care provider if there are any queries and only if you get client consent. The MT must not criticise the work of any other practitioner as this is seen as very rude and it will make you seem like you are superior to others and it doesn’t look good.



References

The Ethics of Touch, Ben Benjamin and Cherie Sohnen-Moe. (SMA Inc., Tucson, Ariz., 2003.)

MNZ Code of Ethics. pdf

My Own Thoughts

Fritz, S. (2004). Mosby’s fundamentals of therapeutic massage (3rd ed.). Missouri: Mosby.

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