Current through March 20, 2024
Unprofessional conduct is set out in Neb. Rev. Stat. §
38-179
and this chapter.
012.01
COMPETENCE. An alcohol and drug counselor must not
provide services for which he or she is not trained or experienced. This
includes but is not limited to:
(A) Committing
any act which endangers client safety or welfare.
(B) Failure to refer or release a client to
other professionals or services if that is in the client's best
interests.
(C) Failure to consider
a client as an individual and imposing on the client any stereotypes of
behavior, values or roles related to race, color, religion, sex, disability,
marital status national origin, age, familial status, and ancestry.
(D) Failure to respect the rights of the
client to make the licensee's own decisions, to participate in any plans made
in his or her interest, and to reject services.
(E) Failure to assess personal and
professional strengths, limitations, biases, and effectiveness on a continuing
basis; to strive for self-improvement; and to assume responsibility for
professional growth through further education and training.
(F) Failure to follow procedures and policies
of the agency or employer to ensure safety of the client.
012.02
CONFIDENTIALITY. A licensee must hold in confidence
information received from a a client or potential client with respect to the
service requested, except in those unusual circumstances in which to do so
would result in clear danger to the person or to others, or where otherwise
required or permitted by law. A person who communicates information
unilaterally to a credential holder without a reasonable expectation that the
credential holder is willing to form a client-therapist relationship, is not a
potential client. Commission of any of the following acts or behavior
constitutes unprofessional conduct:
(A)
Violating 42 Code of Federal Requirements (CFR) Part 2 or other federal or
state law relating to confidentiality.
(B) Releasing client information without a
signed release except where otherwise allowed by law.
(C) Releasing client identifying data without
a signed release and where another party would be able to recognize the
identity of the client except where otherwise allowed by law.
012.03
PROFESSIONAL
RELATIONSHIPS. A licensee must safeguard the welfare of clients
and maintain professional relationships with clients. Commission of any of the
following acts or behaviors constitutes unprofessional conduct:
(A) Exploiting a client for one's own
advantage.
(B) Performing or
agreeing to perform alcohol and drug counseling services when the services are
known to be contraindicated or unjustified.
(C) Verbally or physically abusing
clients.
(D) Attempting to provide
diagnostic or treatment information to a client that is beyond the licensee's
level of education, training, and expertise.
(E) Assigning to other personnel those
client-related services for which the clinical skills and expertise of a
licensee are required.
(F) Failure
to safeguard the client's dignity and right to privacy.
012.04
SEXUAL
HARASSMENT. A licensee must not under any circumstances engage in
sexual harassment of clients. Sexual harassment includes making unwelcome
sexual advances, requesting sexual favors, and engaging in other verbal or
physical conduct of a sexual nature which may result in but does not have to
result in:
(A) Providing or denying care to a
client.
(B) Creating an
intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment for the client.
(C) Interfering with a client's ability to
recover.
012.05
DUAL RELATIONSHIP. Licensees must make every effort to
avoid dual relationships with clients that could impair professional judgment
or increase the risk of exploitation. When a dual relationship cannot be
avoided, licensees must take appropriate professional precautions to ensure
judgment is not impaired and no exploitation occurs. Examples of dual
relationships include, but are not limited to, business or personal
relationships with a client. In the therapeutic relationship, licensees are
aware of the intimacy and responsibilities inherent in the therapeutic
relationship and must avoid actions that seek to meet their personal needs at
the expense of the client. Licensees are aware of their influential positions
with respect to clients and must avoid exploiting the trust and dependency of
such persons. Licensees, therefore, must make every effort to avoid conditions
and multiple relationships with clients that could impair professional judgment
or increase the risk of exploitation. Commission of any of the following acts
or behavior constitutes unprofessional conduct:
(A) Entering into a professional counseling
relationship with family members, with friends or with other persons closely
connected to the licensee, or with an individual the licensee currently has or
previously had a personal, sexually intimate, dating, or romantic
relationship.
(B) Developing a
business or personal relationship with a client during the provision of
professional services or within 2 years following the termination of
professional services. This includes hiring ex-clients or serving as a
practical training supervisor or clinical supervisor of ex-clients pursuant to
this chapter within the 2-year time period.
(C) Developing a sexually intimate, dating,
or romantic relationship with a client during the provision of professional
services or within 5 years following the termination of professional services.
(i) Sexually intimate means any written,
verbal, or physical behavior which a reasonable person would find to be
sexually seductive or sexually demeaning. Sexually intimate may or may not mean
sexual contact.
(ii) Sexual contact
is defined as sexual intercourse, either genital or anal, cunnilingus,
fellatio, sodomy, or the handling of breasts, genital areas, buttocks or
thighs, whether clothed or unclothed, regardless of whether such contact was
initiated or consented to by licensee.
012.06
OTHER ACTS.
The following acts are considered unprofessional conduct:
(A) Refusal of an applicant for licensure or
a licensee to submit to a physical, mental, or alcohol and drug assessment or
evaluation requested by the Department to determine qualifications to practice
or to continue to practice alcohol and drug counseling and to provide the
results to the Department.
(B)
Rendering services as a provisional alcohol and drug counselor without clinical
supervision as set out in this chapter.
(C) Failure of a provisional alcohol and drug
counselor to inform all clients that he or she holds a provisional license and
is practicing under supervision and to inform the clients of the name of the
clinical supervisor.
