Competency #14: Legal and Ethical Aspects of Immunization
This competency acts in accordance with legal and high ethical standards in all aspects of immunization practice.
Learning Objectives
The health professional will be able to perform the following:
- Discuss the implications of basic ethical principles, including individual's right, confidentiality, privacy, informed consent, and informed refusal.
- Describe the legal requirements relevant to immunization administration, documentation, recording, and reporting.
- Describe the legal requirements in the province/territory of immunization practice that relate to immunization status and exclusion from daycare, school, workplace, or other settings.
- Identify his/her own professional scope of practice as it relates to immunization (jurisdiction, organization,practice setting – institutions, etc.).
- Discuss the ethical issues arising from:
- mandatory versus voluntary immunization; and
- targeted versus universal immunization.
- Discuss the responsibility of health professionals to inform patients regarding the availability of all recommended vaccines regardless of whether they are publicly funded or not.
- Describe the ethical implications when a provider's beliefs conflict with evidence-based recommendations for immunization.
Clinical Practice Guidelines and Policies
- WRHA Policy 110.000.005 – Informed Consent (For procedures, treatments, and investigations) (Intranet access required)
- Access to Immunization for Non-Residents of Canada – Clinical Practice Guideline
- WRHA Policy 110.000.100 – Access to Care by Non-Residents of Canada (Intranet access required)
- WRHA Governing Law and Jurisdiction Agreement
- WRHA Non-Resident of Canada Request for Elective Care Form (Intranet access required)
For program staff that cannot access the internal website “Insite” contact your program representative to access the policy