Boundaries: The points when a relationship changes from professional and therapeutic to unprofessional and personal. Therapeutic Support Workers-patient relationships put patients’ needs first. Crossing a boundary means a Support Workers is misusing their power and trust in the relationship to meet personal needs, or behaving in an unprofessional manner with the patient. Crossing a boundary can be intentional or unintentional

Collaborate: Work cooperatively together

Colleagues: Support Workers, other health care providers and students who are involved in the patient’s care

Competence: A Support Workers ability to consistently apply the required knowledge, skill and judgment for safe, ethical and providing effective personal care.

Culture: Learned values, beliefs, norms and way of life that influence a person’s thinking, decisions and actions

D.I.P.P.S: This acronym refers to Dignity – Independence – Preference – Privacy – Safety

Patient: An individual, family, group, community or population receiving care, including, but is not limited to, “clients” or “residents”.

Personal gain: Advantage or benefit, financial or otherwise that a Support Workers receives. A personal gain can be monetary (cash, gifts and rewards) or provide the Support Workers other personal advantages. A personal gain includes interests of the Support Workers family, charitable causes or organizations the Support Workers supports. It does not include a Support Workers\ salary or benefits

Personal health information: Any identifying information about patients’ physical or mental health, including information about the health history of their family

Social media: Community-based online communication tools (websites and applications) used for interaction, content sharing and collaboration. Types of social media include blogs or microblogs (personal, professional or anonymous), discussion forums, message boards, social networking sites and content sharing websites

Standards of Practice: CANSWA’s expectations for how a competent Support Workers should perform. Standards of practice contribute to public protection

Substitute decision-maker: Person, identified by the Health Care Consent Act, 1996 who makes a treatment decision for someone who cannot make their own decision

*The Canadian Support Workers Association has adopted and modified the Code of Conduct from the College of Nurses Ontario to reflect our shared ethical foundations.