Professionalism in healthcare professionals - HCPC

1 Res ea rch reportProfessionalisminhealthcareprofess ionalsFor ew ord 1Ac know le dg em ents 2Ex ecuti ve sum ma ry 31 Intr oduct io n e cu rre nt stu dy ic ipa tin g organisat ion s 72 Me thod cal ic ipa nts s groupform at ysi s 93 Re sult s of un der standingprofession al is m e role of re gulationsand codesof conduct es sion al is m as a fluidconstruc t en ce an d role evi ng profession fere nc es betweenprofession s li ca tion s for sele ctionand edu ca tion 334 Di sc uss ion ta tion s ari sing and fut urere sea rch dire cti ons 395 Co nclusio n 40Re fer enc es 41 App endi x A Let ter of invi tat io nto pros pe ct iv e part ici pan ts 43 App endi x B HPC let ter ofsu ppo rt sen t to prosp ect ivepa rtic ip an ts 44 App endi x C Foc us groupinf orma tion sh ee t 45 App endi x D Co nsent form 47 App endi x E Cod es andde finit io ns use d in frame workan al ys is 48 App endi x F Ra w dat a gi vingex ample s of pr ofe ssi ona l.

2 Un pr ofe ss ion al and amb igu ousbe ha viou rs 51 Con tent sI am de lightedto wel co me th is mon ogra ph asth e fourt h in a serie s on res ea rch re latingto theprofessionsregistered with th e is partof our commitment to bu il din g the ev ide ncebaseof regu lationand be ing innov ati ve in ourapp will produce fur the r publicationsover the com ing yea rs , ea ch of whi ch willex ploredifferentaspe cts of th e re gul ator y andprofessionallandscape .We hopethat over ti me th es e pi ec es of workwill contributenot on ly to our ownun derstandingof regu lati on in the he alth andsoc ial care sector,bu t al so to a wi der audiencewit h an interestin thi s area.

3 Morethan a ce nturyago, Ge orgeBe rn ardSh aw famouslyobse rv ed th at all professionswere a conspiracyaga inst the la ity . Sincethattime,muchhas bee n wri tten about th e natureof professionalpractice an d the contr ibutionofprofessionalsto soc iety . In th e hea lth an dsoc ial care arenatoda y, pa tie nts , servi ce usersan d their familieswa nt th e prof ession al s theyin ter act with to offerspe ci al ist ski lls bu t also totreatthemwith respect, commun ic ate clear lyan d be hav e in a way tha t ref le cts highst an dardsof personal probity.

4 The HCPCst an dardsreflectthi s re qui rem en t, an d muchof the workwe do cen tres arou nd uph oldingst an dardsof conduct an d beh av iou r as wel las , however, ve ry li ttle publ is he d researchon Professionalism in the profess ion s weregulate, or any that expl ores the perc ept ionsof studentsand educators in th is wa s reportis therefore an importan tcont ribut ion to increasi ng unde rs tan ding ofwh at professionalismme an s and how itmightbe promotedand enh an ce d am ongs tfu ture generationsof hea lth an d soci alcare profess is re sea rc h was conductedby Du rh amUn iv er si ty and I am gr atef ul to the au thor sfor th eir con tr ibu tion to this is rese arc h wa s fund ed from a gr antby the Depa rtment of is

5 Re sea rc h was car ried out bef ore ou r na mech anged fromth e HealthProfessions Councilto th e Health and CareProf essions Cou ncil inAu gu st such,we are referenced asthe Health Profe ss ions Council throughout thebod y of the re por vanderGaagCh airFo rew ordPr of es sion alis m in hea lth ca re profe ss ionals1 Ack nowl edgementsTh is final reseachreport for Stu dy 1 Perc ept ions of Prof es sion al ism, was preparedby the followingmem be rs of the Me dicalEdu cat ion ResearchGroup,Dur ha m University,for the HealthProfession s Cou nci l (HPC).

6 Gill Mo rrow BryanBurford CharlotteRothwell MadelineCa rte r JohnMc Lac hl an Jan IllingTh e aut horswouldli ke to tha nk the followingfor their supportin dev el opin g an dconducting re sea rch. The institutions and in div idu al s whosupported this res earch an d ena bl ed th efocu s groups. All the students an d educator s who tookpar t in focusgrou ps . PaulCrampton , Re se arc h As si stant , forsupportwith dat a coll ec tion . TracyStrakerfor sec reta ri al su expressed in th is re port are th ose of theau th ors and not the ofe ssi onal is m in hea lth ca re prof es si ona ls2 Thi s st udy was commissi one d by the HealthProfessionsCouncil(HPC)as pa rt of a wi derres earc h pro gramme expl ori ng aspe cts ofprofessionalpractice.

7 Many fitne ss to practisecas es referredto profe ss ion al regu la tors arelin ked to a broadrangeof be ha vi our s, oftendis tinct fromtechnical abil ity , and ge nerallyter med professional ism . Simi la r tre nds ha vebee n ob served earl y in tra in in g for somehe alt hcareprofessions. Ide nti fy in g wh atprofessionalismmea ns, and how laps es canbe id enti fie d in practice , is als o important toan y fut ure deci sionsab ou t rev ali da e de sirabi lity of addressingan d imp rov ing professi on al is m is re la tivelyun challengedin the li ter atu re , th e conceptof prof essionalism is not we ll-de fi ne d,conceptuallyor methodologic al currentstudysoug ht to in cre as eun derstandingof profe ss ion al ism within threeHPCregulatedprofess ion s (ch iropodists /podi atrist s.)

8 Occupational the ra pis ts andpar ame dics),to expl ore what is pe rc eivedasprofessionalismby bot h stu den ts andeducators,and wh y / how profess ion alisman dlack of profe ssionali sm ma y be iden tif r organisationsde liv er in g tra in in gprogrammesto the th re e prof ession s wererecruited. Two paramedi c tr ai ni ngorganisations werein cluded to ref le ct thediff ere nt trainingrou tes in tha t nt y focusgroups, with a tota l of 112par ticip ants,wereconduc te d, address in g: int erp retationof th e te rm prof essionalism ; sources of unders tan din g ofprof essionalism; indicatorsof bei ng prof es si ona l orunprofessional;an d the point at whi ch people are pe rceivedto become a prof es si ona l.

9 Pa rtic ipan ts in te rp retationof prof essi ona lism en comp asse d ma ny and vari ed aspectsofbe havi ou r, communicationand ap pear anc e(i nc luding, bu t not limi ted to, un if or m), as we llas bei ng perc eived as a holi stic con cepten comp assin g all asp ects of pr e data in dic ate s that professionalismhas aba si s in in div idual char acteristicsan d val ue s,bu t is al so la rgel y def in ed by con defi ni ti on va rie s wit h a nu mberoffa ctors,inc lu di ng or gani sationalsup por t,the wor kp la ce, the exp ectations of others,an d th e specif ic s of eachserv ice user / patie nten cou nte r.

10 Regula tion s prov ide basi c gui da nc ean d si gn postin g on wh at is ap prop ri ate andwh at is una ccepta ble, but ac t as a baseli ne forbe havi ou r, morethana specif e pers on al characteristi cs under ly in gprof ess iona li sm may dev elop ear ly in lif e aswe ll as th rou gh edu cationand wor kexp erie nce, bu t rol e mod elli ng is al soimp or ta nt in deve lop ing th e necessaryaw aren ess of app rop riate acti on indi ffe re nt con te s of prof essional ism did not div er gewi de ly, re ga rd less of prof essionalgrou p,tra in ing rou te or statu s as stu dentor ed uca to l sa w the inte raction of per son and context,an d th e importa nce of si tuational jud gement,as ke y to p rof essionalbehavi our.