Being a Good Caring Person Is All I Need in Order to Practice Ethically and Reduce My Risk of a Malpractice Claim

Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Barnett ◽  
Jeffrey Zimmerman

In general, mental health practitioners are very caring, compassionate, good people. Yet, even so, and even when working diligently to provide the best care possible to clients, it is possible to engage in unethical behaviors and be at risk of a malpractice claim. This chapter explains how ethical practice and effective risk management go far beyond being a nice and caring person. Specific guidance is provided on how to think and reason ethically, especially when confronted with ethical dilemmas and clinically complex and challenging situations. Specific risk management strategies that every mental health practitioner should engage in on an ongoing basis are explained. Guidance is provided on how to act in a manner consistent with one’s values to promote a good working relationship with clients, while ensuring ethical practice and active risk management.

2020 ◽  
pp. VV-D-18-00107
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Storey ◽  
Stephen D. Hart

Mental health professionals are at heightened risk of stalking victimization, however minimal research has examined empirically supported risk factors for stalking and the efficacy of risk management strategies. Three hundred and six counselors were surveyed, and the present study focuses on the 7% (n = 23) who had been stalked by clients. Results describe the characteristics of stalking, perpetrators, and victims and the perceived efficacy of management strategies employed. Stalking behaviors tended to be of lower severity. Common perpetrator risk factors included relationship problems, anger, and obsession. Victim vulnerabilities were identified, where many victims engaged in behavior considered ineffective in response to stalking. Victims often encountered problems coping with victimization due to inadequate access to resources. Results indicate that risk management plans must be individualized and highlight ways that mental health professionals can and would like to be protected from stalking.


2021 ◽  
Vol 342 ◽  
pp. 01012
Author(s):  
Andrada Denisa Băbuţ ◽  
Marius Simion Morar ◽  
Cristian Raul Cioară ◽  
Cristian Tomescu

In March 2020, a pandemic was declared internationally, caused by a new coronavirus called COVID-19. With the advent of the COVID-19 virus and the declaration of the pandemic, safety and distancing measures have been instituted, which we cannot say we are used to and which we easily accept, but which are necessary to combat the spread of the virus. We also cannot deny that this pandemic has affected and continues to affect our mental health, triggering a certain state of anxiety and with it the lowering of our immune system, which makes us more vulnerable to disease. Paradoxically, mental health is one of the first things that helps us to resist and survive the crisis, which is why it is important to provide employees with protection to ensure the necessary mental comfort at work. In this context, this paper synthesizes the basic principles and best practices of psychosocial risk assessment, highlighting how hazard identification and risk management strategies should be based on the involvement of all stakeholders in combating anxiety at workplace.


Author(s):  
D.I. Gray ◽  
J.I. Reid ◽  
D.J. Horne

A group of 24 Hawke's Bay hill country farmers are working with service providers to improve the resilience of their farming systems. An important step in the process was to undertake an inventory of their risk management strategies. Farmers were interviewed about their farming systems and risk management strategies and the data was analysed using descriptive statistics. There was considerable variation in the strategies adopted by the farmers to cope with a dryland environment. Importantly, these strategies had to cope with three types of drought and also upside risk (better than expected conditions), and so flexibility was critical. Infra-structure was important in managing a dryland environment. Farmers chose between increased scale (increasing farm size) and geographic dispersion (owning a second property in another location) through to intensification (investing in subdivision, drainage, capital fertiliser, new pasture species). The study identified that there may be scope for further investment in infra-structural elements such as drainage, deeper rooting alternative pasture species and water harvesting, along with improved management of subterranean clover to improve flexibility. Many of the farmers used forage crops and idling capacity (reduced stocking rate) to improve flexibility; others argued that maintaining pasture quality and managing upside risk was a better strategy in a dryland environment. Supplementary feed was an important strategy for some farmers, but its use was limited by contour and machinery constraints. A surprisingly large proportion of farmers run breeding cows, a policy that is much less flexible than trading stock. However, several farmers had improved their flexibility by running a high proportion of trading cattle and buffer mobs of ewe hoggets and trade lambs. To manage market risk, the majority of farmers are selling a large proportion of their lambs prime. Similarly, cattle are either sold prime or store onto the grass market when prices are at a premium. However, market risk associated with the purchase of supplements and grazing was poorly managed.


2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean C. Bedard ◽  
Lynford E. Graham

In auditing, risk management involves identifying client facts or issues that may affect engagement risk, and planning evidence-gathering strategies accordingly. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether auditors' identification of risk factors and planning of audit tests is affected by decision aid orientation, i.e., a “negative” focus wherein client risk and its consequences are emphasized, or a “positive” focus where such factors are not emphasized. Specifically, we expect that auditors will identify more risk factors using a negatively oriented risk identification decision aid, but only when engagement risk is relatively high. We address this issue in the context of auditors' knowledge of actual clients, manipulating decision aid orientation as negative or positive in a matched-pair design. Results show that auditors using the negative decision aid orientation identify more risk factors than do those using a positive orientation, for their higher-risk clients. We also find that decisions to apply substantive tests are more directly linked to specific risk factors identified than to direct risk assessments. Further, our results show that auditors with repeat engagement experience with the client identify more risk factors. The findings of this study imply that audit firms may improve their risk management strategies through simple changes in the design of decision aids used to support audit planning.


Author(s):  
Zoe Del Fante ◽  
Nicola Di Fazio ◽  
Adriano Papale ◽  
Paola Tomao ◽  
Fabio Del Duca ◽  
...  

Physical risk assessments allow us to understand work-related critical issues, thus representing a useful tool in risk management strategies. In particular, our study focuses on the identification of already known and emerging physical risks related to necropsy and morgue activities, as well as crime scene investigations. The aim of our study is, therefore, to identify objective elements in order to quantify exposure to such risk factors among healthcare professionals and working personnel. For the research of potentially at-risk activities, data from the Morgue of Policlinico Umberto I Hospital in Rome were used. The scientific literature has been reviewed in order to assess the risks associated with morgue activity. Measurements were performed on previously scheduled days, in collaboration with the activities of different research units. The identified areas of risk were: microclimate; exposure to noise and vibrations; postural and biomechanical aspects of necropsy activities. The obtained results make it possible to detect interindividual variability in exposure to many of the aforementioned risk factors. In particular, the assessment of microclimate did not show significant results. On the contrary, exposure to vibrations and biomechanical aspects of load handling have shown potential risk profiles. For this reason, both profiles have been identified as possible action targets for risk management strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-69
Author(s):  
Md Takibur Rahman ◽  
Rasmus Nielsen ◽  
Md Akhtaruzzaman Khan ◽  
Dewan Ahsan

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