Week 1: Introduction

Question 1

Describe ‘professional’

Answer 1

• Professional = a member of a profession
• Professionals are governed by code of ethics, and profess commitment to competence, integrity and morality, altruism and promotion of public good within their scope of practice
• Professionals are accountable to those they serve and to society

Question 2

Meaning of ‘Professional Practice’?

Answer 2

• The use of one’s knowledge in a particular profession
• Scope of practice: procedures, actions and processes that a healthcare practitioner is permitted to undertake in keeping with the terms of their professional license

Question 3

Meaning of ‘Health’

Answer 3

• Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing & not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

Question 4

Describe the Miller’s pyramid

Answer 4

IS (identify) = consistently demonstrates the attitudes, values and behaviours expected of one who has come to ‘think, act & feel like a physician’

DOES (action) = consciously demonstrates the behaviours expected of a physician

SHOWS HOW (performance) = demonstrates behaviours expected of a physician under supervision

KNOWS HOW (competence) = knows when individual behaviours are appropriate

KNOWS (knowledge) = knows the behavioural norms expected of a physician

Question 4

What are the Responsibilities and Obligations of Health Care Professionals (HCPs)?

Answer 4

Primary responsibility is to;
- Act in accordance with the patient/client’s wishes (patient/client autonomy)
- Act in the best interests of the patient/client (principles of beneficence and non-maleficence)

• Practice within the scope of the individual health professional’s knowledge, defined skills & professional attributes
• Maintain that competence
• Ensure decision-making and professional judgement is based on available information and likely consequences

Question 5

HCPs Have Responsibilities and Obligations to:

Answer 5

• Patients / clients, and to the broader community to provide safe, beneficial, responsible and competent health care that is responsive to individual, group and community needs
• Colleagues and to their profession, will always be secondary to their responsibilities and obligations to their patient/ client
• Provide health care service within a context of justice and respect for people’s rights and dignity

Question 6

Describe Patient-Centred Care

Answer 6

• PCC is health care that is respectful of, and responsive to, the preferences, needs and values of patients and consumers
• The widely accepted dimensions of PCC are respect, emotional support, physical comfort, information & communication, continuity & transition, care coordination, involvement of family & carers, and access to care

Question 7

Describe Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) briefly

Answer 7

• National registration established July 2010
• 15 health professions
• Manage the need to uphold professional standards and maintain public confidence in the regulated health professions
• Governed by the “Health Practitioner Regulation National Law”