Question

You hear that an OTR is under investigation for negligence, because they have provided dry needling in the community clinic. Parties involved are grateful that practitioners have to be state licensed because:

a. It protects the consumers and allows individuals to file complaints
b. It promotes professional conduct that presses practitioners to engage in continued competency, provides ethical practice, and protects OT providers when clients claim that we should let other professionals do this work, because it is not in our scope of practice.
c. The practitioner can verify and educate client that the state regulatory board had recently made changes to the practice act that included dry needling in their scope of practice.
d. All of the above.

Answer 1

Occupational licenses protect consumers, promote professional conduct, and verify the scope of practice for practitioners.

Step-by-step explanation:

Occupational licenses play a crucial role in protecting consumers and ensuring professional conduct in various industries, including healthcare. By requiring practitioners to be state licensed, it not only safeguards consumers but also allows individuals to file complaints if needed (option a). Additionally, occupational licenses promote continued competency, ethical practice, and protect occupational therapy (OT) providers in situations where clients argue that certain tasks should be delegated to other professionals (option b). Lastly, state regulatory boards, when making changes to the practice act, can verify and educate clients about new inclusions in the scope of practice, such as dry needling for an OTR in this case (option c).