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Professional Behaviour (professional + behaviour)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Assessment of professional behaviour in undergraduate medical education: peer assessment enhances performance

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 9 2007
Johanna Schönrock-Adema
Objectives, To examine whether peer assessment can enhance scores on professional behaviour, with the expectation that students who assess peers score more highly on professional behaviour than students who do not assess peers. Methods, Undergraduate medical students in their first and second trimesters were randomly assigned to conditions with or without peer assessment. Of the total group of 336 students, 278 students participated in the first trimester, distributed over 31 tutorial groups, 17 of which assessed peers. The second trimester involved 272 students distributed over 32 groups, 15 of which assessed peers. Professional behaviour was rated by tutors on 3 dimensions: Task Performance; Aspects of Communication, and Personal Performance. The rating scale ranged from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent). Data were analysed using multivariate repeated measures multilevel analysis. Results, Assessment scores were found to have generally increased in the second trimester, especially the personal performance scores of students who assessed peers. In addition, female students were found to have significantly higher scores than male students. Conclusions, In undergraduate medical education, peer assessment has a positive influence on professional behaviour. However, the results imply that peer assessment is only effective after students have become adjusted to the complex learning environment. [source]

Determining the professional behaviour of nurse executives

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING PRACTICE, Issue 4 2010
Filiz Hisar PhD RN
Hisar F, Karada, A. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2010; 16: 335,341 Determining the professional behaviour of nurse executives This study was carried out with the aim of determining the professional behaviour of nurse executives. The sample of the study included 104 nurse executives working in university, state and private hospitals in Turkey. Data were collected using a questionnaire, which included demographic characteristics of nurses and a Behavioral Inventory Form for Professionalism in Nursing (BIPN). The questionnaire was filled out by the nurses. The BIPN results showed that the mean score of nurse executives was low. Although the scores of nurse executives who had completed postgraduate studies in nursing were the highest, those who had only completed an associate degree programme were the lowest. In conclusion, the professionalism scores for Turkish nurse executives were found to be low; recommendations for improving these scores were made. [source]

,You're judged all the time!' Students' views on professionalism: a multicentre study

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 8 2010
Gabrielle Finn
Medical Education 2010: 44: 814,825 Objectives, This study describes how medical students perceive professionalism and the context in which it is relevant to them. An understanding of how Phase 1 students perceive professionalism will help us to teach this subject more effectively. Phase 1 medical students are those in the first 2 years of a 5-year medical degree. Methods, Seventy-two undergraduate students from two UK medical schools participated in 13 semi-structured focus groups. Focus groups, carried out until thematic saturation occurred, were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed and coded using NVivo 8, using a grounded theory approach with constant comparison. Results, From the analysis, seven themes regarding professionalism emerged: the context of professionalism; role-modelling; scrutiny of behaviour; professional identity; ,switching on' professionalism; leniency (for students with regard to professional standards), and sacrifice (of freedom as an individual). Students regarded professionalism as being relevant in three contexts: the clinical, the university and the virtual. Students called for leniency during their undergraduate course, opposing the guidance from Good Medical Practice. Unique findings were the impact of clothing and the online social networking site Facebook on professional behaviour and identity. Changing clothing was described as a mechanism by which students ,switch on' their professional identity. Students perceived society to be struggling with the distinction between doctors as individuals and professionals. This extended to the students' online identities on Facebook. Institutions' expectations of high standards of professionalism were associated with a feeling of sacrifice by students caused by the perception of constantly ,being watched'; this perception was coupled with resentment of this intrusion. Students described the significant impact that role-modelling had on their professional attitudes. Conclusions, This research offers valuable insight into how Phase 1 medical students construct their personal and professional identities in both the offline and online environments. Acknowledging these learning mechanisms will enhance the development of a genuinely student-focused professionalism curriculum. [source]

Patient perceptions of professionalism: implications for residency education

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2009
Michael N Wiggins
Objectives, The purpose of this study was three-fold: to identify which behavioural, communicative and personal presentation characteristics most closely represent patients' views of professionalism; to determine whether patients perceive resident doctors as displaying these characteristics, and to explore whether or not resident doctor professional behaviour creates an impression of clinical competence to the degree where patients perceive a decreased need for Attending Physician involvement. Methods, We carried out a descriptive, cross-sectional study at an academic centre. An anonymous, voluntary four-question survey with multiple items was administered to all adult patients or the parents of paediatric patients attending an ophthalmology clinic who were seen by a resident doctor followed by an Attending Physician. Results, A total of 133 of 148 (90%) surveys were returned. All the itemised characteristics of professionalism were reported to be important or very important to the majority of participants. The most important were: ,Pays attention to my concerns' (90%); ,Is compassionate' (83%), and ,Speaks in terms that I can understand' (83%). Although 85% of respondents reported that resident doctors demonstrated all the characteristics of professionalism listed on the survey, 83% of participants stated that it was important or very important that residents have Attending Physician involvement. Conclusions, Patient-centred components of professionalism, such as communication skills and compassion, are more important to patients than social behaviours, such as appearance and acknowledgement of family members. Resident doctors are perceived to display a high level of professionalism during patient care. Patients clearly desire direct resident doctor supervision by an Attending Physician. [source]

Assessment of professional behaviour in undergraduate medical education: peer assessment enhances performance

Improving clinical assessment: evaluating students' ability to identify and apply clinical criteria

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2010
C. Redwood
Abstract Aim:, There is ongoing concern by health educators over the inability of professionals to accurately self-assess their clinical behaviour and standards, resulting in doubts over a key expectation of effective self-regulation in the health professions. Participation by students in the assessment process has been shown to increase the understanding of assessment criteria in written assessment tasks. How this might transfer to the clinical setting is the focus of this study. This paper is part of an ongoing investigation of the impact on learning of a series of activities that provides students with opportunities to discuss and apply criteria and standards associated with self-assessment in clinical dentistry. Our aim was to evaluate whether participation in these assessment activities improved the ability of first-year dental students to recognise behaviours demonstrated by ,peers' in videos of clinical scenarios and to relate these to the assessment criteria. Materials and methods:, A series of three workshops in conjunction with weekly clinical assessment activities in Semesters 1 and 2 were use to support first-year students' learning of clinical assessment criteria. The design of the workshops was based on the principles of social constructivist theories of learning and the concept of tacit knowledge. Accordingly workshop activities were planned around videos that were specifically constructed to illustrate procedures and behaviours typical of those observed by staff and tutors in the first year of the dental course at The University of Adelaide, Australia. First-year students viewed the videos prior to and after the workshops and recorded observed behaviours that related to the assessment criteria that were used in their clinical practice course. Student learning outcomes were assessed 10,14 weeks after the initial workshop and again up to 42 weeks later. To check whether learning resulted from repeated viewing of the videos without formal discussion, a reference group of third-year students who did not attend the workshops also viewed the videos two times, separated by 12 weeks, and recorded observations in the same way. Results:, There was no consistent evidence that repeat viewing of the videos in isolation resulted in improved recognition of ,peer' behaviours by third-year dental students. Results for the first-year students indicated that the workshops and clinical assessment activities had a significantly positive effect on the ability of students to identify ,peer' behaviours related to the criteria used for clinical assessment. In particular, students' recognition in others of knowledge and professional behaviours improved significantly. This improvement was retained over the year and students were able to recognise these behaviours in other scenarios relevant to their year level. Conclusions:, This early exposure to the process of clinical assessment, coupled with ongoing self-assessment and tutor feedback throughout first year, improved the ability of first-year students to identify and apply some key assessment criteria to observed ,peer' behaviour, and this ability was retained over time. [source]

Systematic review of the effectiveness of integrated care pathways: what works, for whom, in which circumstances?

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE BASED HEALTHCARE, Issue 2 2009
Davina Allen RGN BA(Hons) PhD
Abstract Aim, Integrated care pathways (ICP) are management technologies which formalise multidisciplinary team-working and enable professionals to examine their roles and responsibilities. ICPs are now being implemented across international healthcare arena, but evidence to support their use is equivocal. The aim of this study was to identify the circumstances in which ICPs are effective, for whom and in what contexts. Methods, A systematic review of high-quality randomised controlled trials published between 1980 and 2008 (March) evaluating ICP use in child and adult populations in the full range of healthcare settings. Results 1For relatively predictable trajectories of care ICPs can be effective in supporting proactive care management and ensuring that patients receive relevant clinical interventions and/or assessments in a timely manner. This can lead to improvements in service quality and service efficiency without adverse consequences for patients. 2ICPs are an effective mechanism for promoting adherence to guidelines or treatment protocols thereby reducing variation in practice. 3ICPs can be effective in improving documentation of treatment goals, documentation of communication with patients, carers and health professionals. 4ICPs can be effective in improving physician agreement about treatment options. 5ICPs can be effective in supporting decision-making when they incorporate a decision-aide. 6The evidence considered in this review indicates that ICPs may be particularly effective in changing professional behaviours in the desired direction, where there is scope for improvement or where roles are new. 7Even in contexts in which health professionals are already experienced with a particular pathway, ICP use brings additional beneficial effects in directing professional practice in the desired direction. 8ICPs may be less effective in bringing about service quality and efficiency gains in variable patient trajectories. 9ICPs may be less effective in bringing about quality improvements in circumstances in which services are already based on best evidence and multidisciplinary working is well established. 10Depending on their purpose, the benefits of ICPs may be greater for certain patient subgroups than others. 11We do not know whether the costs of ICP development and implementation are justified by any of their reported benefits. 12ICPs may need supporting mechanisms to underpin their implementation and ensure their adoption in practice, particularly in circumstances in which ICP use is a significant change in organisational culture. 13ICP documentation can introduce scope for new kinds of error. Conclusions, ICPs are most effective in contexts where patient care trajectories are predictable. Their value in settings in which recovery pathways are more variable is less clear. ICPs are most effective in bringing about behavioural changes where there are identified deficiencies in services; their value in contexts where inter-professional working is well established is less certain. None of the studies reviewed included an economic evaluation and thus it is not known whether their benefits justify the costs of their implementation. [source]

The acceptability of 360-degree judgements as a method of assessing undergraduate medical students' personal and professional behaviours

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2005
Charlotte Rees
Introduction, Medical students' personal and professional behaviours have been assessed poorly in medical schools. No research exists exploring the acceptability of 360-degree judgements as a method of assessing such behaviours. This study aims to explore students' and assessors' views and experiences of 360-degree judgements. Methods, Eighteen students and 12 assessors participated in 4 focus group discussions in spring 2003. Discussions were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim and the transcripts were theme analysed independently by 2 analysts. Results, Although 360-degree judgements were felt to drive students' behaviour positively, they were also thought to influence learning and behaviour adversely. Various factors were thought to influence assessors' abilities to make good quality judgements, such as situational factors like the length of time spent with students, characteristics relating to the assessment criteria and characteristics of the assessor, such as apathy. Discussion, Additional research using qualitative and quantitative methods is needed to explore these issues further. [source]

OSCE! Variations on a theme by Harden

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 12 2003
Brian Hodges
Background, In 1979, Harden described the first objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Harden's OSCE dramatically changed the assessment of professional competence because it used actors and choreographed scenarios to evaluate the performance of professional behaviours. Analysis, Because of the intense focus on performance, OSCEs have had a powerful influence on doctor training and practice. However, the immediate psychometric characteristics of OSCEs rather than their performance effects have been the subject of most research. Conclusion, The time has come to undertake a sophisticated sociological investigation of how OSCEs affect medical practice, including the ways in which they shape doctor interaction with patients, families and other health professionals. [source]

Beyond a code of ethics: phenomenological ethics for everyday practice

PHYSIOTHERAPY RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2010
Bruce Greenfield
Abstract Physical therapy, like all health-care professions, governs itself through a code of ethics that defines its obligations of professional behaviours. The code of ethics provides professions with a consistent and common moral language and principled guidelines for ethical actions. Yet, and as argued in this paper, professional codes of ethics have limits applied to ethical decision-making in the presence of ethical dilemmas. Part of the limitations of the codes of ethics is that there is no particular hierarchy of principles that govern in all situations. Instead, the exigencies of clinical practice, the particularities of individual patient's illness experiences and the transformative nature of chronic illnesses and disabilities often obscure the ethical concerns and issues embedded in concrete situations. Consistent with models of expert practice, and with contemporary models of patient-centred care, we advocate and describe in this paper a type of interpretative and narrative approach to moral practice and ethical decision-making based on phenomenology. The tools of phenomenology that are well defined in research are applied and examined in a case that illustrates their use in uncovering the values and ethical concerns of a patient. Based on the deconstruction of this case on a phenomenologist approach, we illustrate how such approaches for ethical understanding can help assist clinicians and educators in applying principles within the context and needs of each patient. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]