Please read the following ethical scenarios and after each one select the statement that applies best to you. All names used throughout the scenarios are fictitious and the information gathered is anonymous. The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. 

Question Title

* 1. Esteban is a registered dental hygienist who just moved to a small town and started working for one of its three dental clinics, the office of Dr. Roy. Esteban was instructed by Dr. Roy to routinely take Panorex radiographs as soon as each client was eligible for insurance coverage to have one done, which was basically every 5 years, regardless for the actual need or indication for one. Esteban told Dr. Roy he was not comfortable with exposing his clients to radiation and billing their insurance unnecessarily, and Dr. Roy told him that their office needs the extra revenue as their business is doing poorly.

Reflecting on Esteban’s situation above, please select the statement below that is the most applicable to you:

Question Title

* 2. Veronica, a registered dental hygienist and a single mom has been under a lot of stress the past 3 months. Her daughter is just getting over the chicken pox and her grandfather recently passed away. Her landlord has just sold the house she rents where she lives with her daughter and she has to find a new place to live and move. It’s March 1, 2016 and Veronica just arrived at work and is in the lunch room having her morning coffee while telling one of her dental hygiene colleagues, Ruth, about everything that is going on in her life. Ruth empathizes with her and during their discussion, Veronica remembers that she forgot to renew her dental hygiene license by the deadline the evening before. She panics and tells Ruth that everything will be fine and it’s not a big deal; she will continue with her work day and apply for reinstatement of her license after work. Ruth reminds Veronica that it is illegal to practice without a license and she should excuse herself from work right away and go apply for her license reinstatement, only returning to work after she has her license reinstated. Veronica breaks down in tears and tells Ruth that their employer already warned her that if she is late or absent from work one more time this month, he will have to replace her. She has been late to work 6 times this month already and she feels if she tells him she forgot to renew her license and can’t work, he will fire her and she cannot afford to lose her job with everything else going on in her life. Veronica confirms to Ruth that she is going to practice illegally and then leaves the lunch room to start her work day. Ruth is put in an extremely difficult situation of wanting to report Veronica for practicing illegally, but not wanting her to get fired, especially with everything else she is dealing with right now.

Reflecting on Ruth’s situation above, please select the statement below that is the most applicable to you:

Question Title

* 3. Esther is a registered dental hygienist scheduled to see her client named Lola, who is a 13-year-old girl. Lola’s mom has driven her to her dental hygiene appointment today. Esther has been providing dental hygiene care for Lola and her mom and dad for the past 3 years. Esther has a positive professional relationship with Lola and she respects Esther’s advice related to her oral health. During Lola’s appointment, Esther finds out that Lola has started to vape. She has tried cigarettes a few times, but routinely vapes during breaks at school and on her walk home from school with friends. Esther asks Lola if she can share some information about the effects this has on the oral cavity, and Lola says fine, but that she is not going to quit, and it’s not a problem…but not to tell her mom. After the appointment, Esther walks Lola to the waiting room where her mom is already paying the bill. Lola’s mom asks Esther how Lola’s appointment went while Lola is standing right beside Esther.

Reflecting on Esther’s situation above, please select the statement below that is the most applicable to you:

Question Title

* 4. Sandy is a dental hygienist who graduated 5 years ago. She was very close to several of her classmates from her dental hygiene education program and they continue to stay in touch even though they no longer work in the same city. To keep up-to-date in each other’s lives they regularly post pictures on Facebook. Sandy has noticed that one of her previous classmates, who is a practicing dental hygienist, takes a lot of pictures in her office and posts them on Instagram and Facebook. In some of the pictures, Sandy can see the client’s x-rays on the view box and can make out the client’s name. Sandy is also feeling uncomfortable with the way this particular friend is dressing for practice and feels that her friend’s clothing choices do not represent the profession and could give it a bad name.

Reflecting on Sandy’s situation above, please select the statement below that is the most applicable to you:

Question Title

* 5. Cheryl, the dental hygienist is scheduled to see Mrs. Chin today for the client’s first dental hygiene appointment. Mrs. Chin is a 62-year-old female who just emigrated from China where she was a teacher. She has very limited English verbal comprehension and does not read English. She only went to the dentist in the past when she was in pain and has never had a dental hygiene appointment. 

After completing the assessments, developing a dental hygiene diagnosis and interventions to address all the intra-oral and referral needs, Cheryl still has time to start the implementation phase of care. However, Cheryl wants to inform Mrs. Chin of the dental hygiene care plan and have her give informed consent. Mrs. Chin nods and smiles as Cheryl presents the care plan to her. Cheryl is not sure whether Mrs. Chin truly understands her and can give informed consent, and is thus feeling hesitant about proceeding with treatment.

Reflecting on Cheryl’s situation above, please select the statement below that is the most applicable to you:

Question Title

* 6. Please take a moment to describe any additional ethical scenarios not addressed in the survey that you may have encountered in your dental hygiene practice. Again, this information is anonymous and will help us provide information to registrants that is realistic and applicable to dental hygiene practice in BC.

T