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Professional Qualifications (professional + qualification)
Selected AbstractsEffect of Service Structure and Organization on Staff Care Practices in Small Community Homes for People with Intellectual DisabilitiesJOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 5 2008Jim Mansell Background, An important question in community living is what factors influence the extent to which staff provide ,active support'. Methods, Engagement, care practices and a range of staff and organizational characteristics were studied in 72 residential homes serving 359 adults with intellectual disabilities. Managers in 36 settings were trained in person-centred active support (PCAS). A group comparison design and multivariate analysis was used to investigate the relationship between variables. Results, The PCAS group showed more active support, assistance, other contact from staff and engagement in meaningful activity but no difference in choice-making or assessment of participation in activities of daily living. The PCAS group had more staff with a professional qualification, were more likely to think that challenging behaviour was caused by lack of stimulation, had attitudes more in line with a policy of community care, rated most care tasks as less difficult, and were more organized to deliver active support. The comparison group were more likely to think that challenging behaviour was learned negative behaviour, showed more teamwork and were more satisfied. Multivariate analysis identified a range of staff and organizational variables associated with engagement and active support. Conclusions, The results suggest that some variables which have not hitherto been studied in relation with active support are associated with it. Professional qualification, knowledge and experience appear to be important as do some staff attitudes, clear management guidance, more frequent supervision and team meetings, training and support for staff to help residents engage in meaningful activity. [source] In Australia, Between America and Europe, Beaux Arts and Modernism, Scholarship and Qualification: The Melbourne University Architectural Atelier, 1919,1947JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2005JULIE WILLIS The role of architectural education in facilitating the international flow of ideas and developing the local profession during the interwar period is relatively underexplored. In Australia, the Melbourne University Architectural Atelier (1919,1947) was instrumental in introducing foreign methodologies while promoting a locally inflected paradigm of modern architecture. Based initially on the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the atelier's emphasis on composition and form, rather than a single accepted architectural style, fostered a culture of experimentation among Australian architects. But its focus on scholarship instead of professional qualification led to its eventual demise, highlighting the complex relationship between global design culture and local architectural practice. [source] Lawyer Specialization,Managing the Professional ParadoxLAW & POLICY, Issue 2 2010RICHARD MOORHEAD This article explores a series of paradoxes exposed by specialization within the legal profession. It will argue that while the existing literature rightly identifies specialization as posing potential challenges to coherence, legitimacy, and professional ethics, it fails to grapple with the relationship between professional competence and specialization. In exploring this relationship, three paradoxes are articulated. The first is that specialization is both a necessary element in the development of professionalism and a threat to it. The second is the normative ambiguity of specialization: specialization is capable of giving rise to both benefits and detriments. The third paradox is the profession's response to this ambiguity. It will be argued that the profession's approach is incoherent in public interest terms and can be best explained as part of a desire to protect its members' interests and its collective identity over the public interest in competence. These arguments are made in the context of a series of three empirical studies of specialists and nonspecialists in legal aid practice in England and Wales. The evidence is worrying enough to suggest significant concerns about the quality and indeed legitimacy of the professional qualification as a general warrant of competence. The implications for institutionalizing specialization within the legal profession are discussed. [source] REFLECTIONS ON THE STATE OF CONSENSUS-BASED DECISION MAKING IN CHILD WELFAREFAMILY COURT REVIEW, Issue 1 2009Bernie Mayer Consensus approaches to child protection decision making such as mediation and family group conferencing have become increasingly widespread since first initiated about 25 years ago. They address but are also constrained by paradoxes in the child protection system about commitments to protecting children and to family autonomy. In a series of surveys, interviews, and dialogues, mediation and conferencing researchers and practitioners discussed the key issues that face their work: clarity about purpose, system support, family empowerment, professional qualifications, and coordination among different types of consensus-building efforts. Consensus-based decision making in child protection will continue to expand and grow but will also continue to confront these challenges. [source] Research use and support needs, and research activity in social care: a cross-sectional survey in two councils with social services responsibilities in the UKHEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 5 2008Cooke Jo BNurs MA RGN HV cert NDN Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of research activity, research use, research interests and research skills in the social care workforce in two UK councils with social service responsibilities (CSSRs). A cross-sectional survey was conducted of the social care workforce in two CSSRs (n = 1512) in 2005. The sample was identified in partnership with the councils, and included employees with professional qualifications (social workers and occupational therapists); staff who have a role to assess, plan and monitor care; service managers; commissioners of services; and those involved with social care policy, information management and training. The survey achieved a response rate of 24% (n = 368). The Internet was reported as an effective source of research information; conversely, research-based guidelines were reported to have a low impact on practice. Significant differences were found in research use, by work location, and postgraduate training. Most respondents saw research as useful for practice (69%), and wanted to collaborate in research (68%), but only 11% were planning to do research within the next 12 months. Having a master's degree was associated with a greater desire to lead or collaborate in research. A range of research training needs, and the preferred modes of delivery were identified. Support to increase research activity includes protected time and mentorship. The study concludes that a range of mechanisms to make research available for the social care workforce needs to be in place to support evidence-informed practice. Continual professional development to a postgraduate level supports the use and production of evidence in the social care workforce, and promotes the development of a research culture. The term research is used to include service user consultations, needs assessment and service evaluation. The findings highlight a relatively large body of the social care workforce willing to collaborate and conduct research. Councils and research support systems need to be developed to utilise this relatively untapped potential. [source] The times they are a changinJOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2009Cert Ed, MIKE THOMAS PhD Aim, A discussion paper outlining the potential for a multi-qualified health practitioner who has undertaken a programme of study incorporating the strengths of the specialist nurse with other professional routes. Background and rationale, The concept and the context of ,nursing' is wide and generalized across the healthcare spectrum with a huge number of practitioners in separate branches, specialities and sub-specialities. As a profession, nursing consists of different groups in alliance with each other. How different is the work of the mental health forensic expert from an acute interventionalist, or a nurse therapist, from a clinical expert in neurological deterioration? The alliance holds because of the way nurses are educated and culturalized into the profession, and the influence of the statutory bodies and the context of a historical nationalized health system. This paper discusses the potential for a new type of healthcare professional, one which pushes the intra- and inter-professional agenda towards multi-qualified staff who would be able to work across current care boundaries and be more flexible regarding future care delivery. In September 2003, the Nursing and Midwifery Council stated that there were ,more than 656 000 practitioners' on its register and proposed that from April 2004, there were new entry descriptors. Identifying such large numbers of practitioners across a wide range of specialities brings several areas of the profession into question. Above all else, it highlights how nursing has fought and gained recognition for specialisms and that through this, it may be argued client groups receive the best possible ,fit' for their needs, wants and demands. However, it also highlights deficits in certain disciplines of care, for example, in mental health and learning disabilities. We argue that a practitioner holding different professional qualifications would be in a position to provide a more holistic service to the client. Is there then a gap for a ,new breed' of practitioner; ,a hybrid' that can achieve a balanced care provision to reduce the stress of multiple visits and multiple explanations? Methods, Review of the literature but essentially informed by the authors personal vision relating to the future of health practitioner education. Implications for nursing management, This article is of significance for nurse managers as the future workforce and skill mix of both acute and community settings will be strongly influenced by the initial preregistration nurse education. [source] A New Information Exchange System for Nursing Professionals to Enhance Patient Safety Across EuropeJOURNAL OF NURSING SCHOLARSHIP, Issue 4 2009Dr. Alessandro Stievano RN Abstract Purpose: Ensuring safe healthcare services is one of today's most challenging issues, especially in light of the increasing mobility of health professionals and patients. In the last few years, nursing research has contributed to the creation of a culture of safety that is an integral part of clinical care and a cornerstone of healthcare systems. Organizing Constructs: European institutions continue to discuss methods and tools that would best contribute to ensuring safe and high-quality care, as well as ensuring access to healthcare services. According to the European Commission between 8% and 12% of patients admitted to hospitals in the European Union member states suffer from adverse events while receiving care, although some of these events are part of the intrinsic risk linked to receiving care. However, most of these adverse events are caused by such avoidable healthcare errors as, for instance, diagnosis mistakes, inability to act on the results of tests, medication errors, failures of healthcare equipment and hospital infections. Nosocomial infections alone are estimated to affect 4.1 million inpatients, that is, about 1 of every 20 inpatients, causing avoidable suffering and mortality, as well as an enormous loss of financial resources (at least ,5.48 billion a year). Conclusions: The Internal Market Information (IMI) System, developed by the European Commission, aims at contributing to patient safety by means of a timely and updated exchange of information among nursing regulatory bodies on the good standing and scope of practice of their registrants. Through the IMI System, the European Federation of Nursing Regulators will improve its electronic database on nurses to allow national nursing regulatory bodies to exchange the information needed to recognize the nurses' educational and professional qualifications and competencies. This process both facilitates the mobility of professionals and ensures high-quality nursing practice in an even and consistent way across the European Union. Clinical Relevance: On a national basis, nursing regulatory bodies play an important role in ensuring patient safety through high standards of nursing education and competence, whereas on an international basis, patient safety can assured by a better exchange of information between national regulatory bodies on the good professional standing of nurses. [source] | |||||||||||||