Glossary
Terms in plain language
The exam is written in everyday English, except for professional terms. These are those terms, in short sentences.
15 terms so far. More arrive with each module.
- Assent
- Agreement from a person who cannot legally consent, such as a child. You seek it along with consent from a parent or guardian. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Burnout
- Exhaustion, a detached attitude and feeling ineffective, built up from work demands over time. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Capacity
- The ability to understand information and make a decision about it. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Compassion fatigue
- The emotional and physical cost of caring for people who suffer. Often described as secondary traumatic stress plus burnout. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Confidentiality
- The social worker's ethical duty to keep client information private. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Ethical dilemma
- A conflict between two duties or values where honoring one means falling short on the other. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Impairment
- A personal problem, such as distress, illness or substance use, that gets in the way of professional judgment or performance. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Informed consent
- A client's free agreement to a service after its purpose, risks, costs, limits and alternatives have been explained in a way the client understands. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Minimum necessary
- The HIPAA idea that you share only as much information as the purpose needs. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Moral distress
- The strain of knowing the right thing to do for a client while rules, limits or lack of resources keep you from doing it. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Privilege
- The client's legal right to keep treatment information out of court. The client holds it and usually decides whether to give it up. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Protected health information (PHI)
- Health information that can be linked to a specific person. HIPAA protects it. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Psychotherapy notes
- A clinician's separate notes about what was said in sessions. HIPAA gives them extra protection. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Secondary traumatic stress
- Trauma-like symptoms in a helper that come from exposure to other people's trauma. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Subpoena
- A legal demand to appear or produce records. It requires a response, which may be an objection. IA, Ethical Principles and Responsibilities