Chapter 1: Arizona Revised Statutes and Professional Ethics (Mandatory) 3 CE Hours
By: Taylor Walding Learning outcomes
Recall your oversight responsibilities in dealing with third-party contractors or other service professionals. Explain the importance and need for confidentiality. Recognize your professional duties and responsibilities under Arizona law.
After completing this course, the learner will be able to: Identify your ethical responsibility to the profession. Explain your duties and responsibilities to all persons you serve. List a number of funeral-related organizations that teach their own codes of ethics. Course overview Arizona funeral directors have a critical role in ensuring that their services are conducted with the utmost professionalism and adherence to state laws. Their duties encompass a range of ethical responsibilities, including maintaining the dignity and respect of the deceased and their families. They must comply with Arizona funeral statutes, which regulate the handling, transportation, and final disposition of human
remains. These statutes also mandate proper recordkeeping and the transparent management of preneed funeral arrangements. Funeral directors are expected to provide clear and honest communication with clients, ensuring that all services and costs are fully disclosed. By upholding these standards, they protect the public’s trust and ensure that all legal and ethical obligations are met.
PART 1 - PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
Introduction Professional ethics is a vast field of study, with categories and subcategories relating to every conceivable topic and issue. Many medical and health-related disciplines establish their own ethical codes and standards of conduct, which encapsulate the compiled wisdom of countless individuals and years of professional experience. Their study offers practitioners the opportunity to learn from their predecessors’ mistakes instead of their own. Unlike personal ethics, which are flexible and open to debate, professional ethical codes are formally defined, mandatory standards of conduct established by and for members of professional associations to ensure quality and integrity in the profession. Professionalism is a combination of individual responsibility—personal responsibility on the part of each member of the professional community—combined with the collective responsibility of a formal group or association of practitioners. Ethics refers to principles of right or good conduct. Professional ethics in funeral services means the application of guiding principles of right conduct to the study, practice, and business of funeral service. This course addresses a range of issues of concern to the professional funeral director and staff and introduces a Professional obligations and responsibilities Every decision you make that affects another individual has an ethical or moral dimension to it. Ethical standards are written into our laws, but ethics goes beyond what is strictly legal. Laws are associated with minimum requirements, while ethical standards appeal to an even higher level of responsibility regarding the right thing to do. Although funeral practitioners, colleagues, and family members are equally capable of showing poor judgment or acting irrationally, licensed practitioners are bound by their professional affiliation to act responsibly, even when others do not.
number of concepts important to their ethical practice. Successful completion of the course will equip you with the basic concepts and rationale for ethical decision-making in your practice, to help to navigate unknown ethical territory, identify questionable behavior, and develop a sense for “red flags” of potential conflict, as well as take steps to resolve these issues. Equally important, it will help you know when to seek professional guidance with a supervisor or mentor in the industry or turn to other appropriate resources for professional assistance. Because virtually all state licensing authorities, certifying or accrediting agencies, and professional associations establish their own standards of conduct and ethical guidelines for their members, you will need to refer directly to the organizations and academic or training institutions with which you are affiliated, as well as state, local, and national associations, to review the ethical guidelines that apply specifically to you and your practice. You may also want to refer to literature or websites of prominent professional organizations such as the Arizona Funeral, Cemetery and Cremation Association (https://azfcca.org/about/); the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA; https:// nfda.org/about-nfda/code-of-professional-conduct); or the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA; https://iccfa.com). The family Your first responsibility is to the wishes of the bereaved family. Family members should be provided counsel and treated in a caring and ethical manner. The family should be provided a copy of the funeral home’s general price list (GPL). Many also find a copy of the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer guide to services and products useful (https://consumer.ftc.gov/shopping-and-donating/ funerals). The nonprofit organization Consumer Action, which receives its support through grants and court settlements, publishes a consumer services guide that can be accessed through https://consumerservicesguide.org/about.
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Book Code: FAZ0625
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