According to Sweeney (2017) as human beings we pride ourselves on our general psychological characteristics, feelings, and behavioural traits commonly known as aspects of our human nature. Along with these aspects of our human nature comes the possibility of wrong doing and in the context of clinical research such wrongdoings might be an aspect of research misconduct (falsification of data or results and plagiarism). Such misconduct, if carried out deliberately, is seen as fraud.
Therefore, in order to prevent this growing breach in clinical research, a sense of professional integrity needs to be maintained within each individual health care provider.

Integrity is very broad concept to unpack, therefore in order for an individual to maintain a sense of integrity, as a physiotherapist, they need to have an understanding of its definition. Integrity can simply be defined as “one following their own morals or ethical beliefs and not doing anything that may cause them dishonour” (Cambridge Dictionary, 2015).
It is our duty a student physiotherapist to rely on our core values to ensure that our patients receive the best quality of care, whether it be in a clinical practice setting or in research.
According to Flite and Harman (2013) one of these core values is professional integrity which falls under the ethical principle of “beneficence,” which means that as health care providers we are expected to refrain from causing harm, however we do have an obligation to help our patients.

For example; I have been working with a patient, with 3rd degree burns on his perineum, buttocks and lower limb, for over 2 weeks now and his treatment plan currently includes repetitive ROM and stretching exercises of the lower limbs, as prescribe by the doctor in order to prepare for a skin graft. However, every time I go and begin treatment with the patient he becomes very un-cooperative, which in retrospect I can sympathise to as I could not begin to comprehend the amount of pain he must feeling when having to stretch the burnt skin. However, the patient does understand the need for physiotherapy and always consents at the beginning of each treatment session, but as the treatment progresses, and the skin begins to stretch, the patient eventually refuses treatment. He repeatedly says that he “doesn’t care about moving anymore” and that I “don’t understand the amount of pain” he is in. I find myself having to repeatably explain to the patient the benefits of the exercises and the consequences of not doing the exercises. However, each time he swears and bad mouths me during the treatment session and eventually refuses saying ‘I can’t force him” to continue. It is in such a situation where I have to ask myself; do I stop treatment at the patients request which will ease his pain now but will increase the risk of impairments later on or do I persist with trying to persuade the patient to continue with the treatment, even though he is in pain, in an attempt to fulfil my obligation as a health care professional as i know it will benefit him functionally in the long run? In such a situation I feel that in order for me to maintain professional integrity towards the patient I need to respectfully explain my disagreements with the patient’s wishes and explain the consequences he may face if he refuses treatment but at the same time I need to listen to the patients concerns and respect the patient’s decision to refuse treatment despite the consequences.

If a physiotherapy student is said to have shown professional integrity towards their patient, they have consistently and willingly practiced within the Guidelines of the Profession, under the obligation of a Code of Ethics.

According to the North Georgia Academic Catalogue (2012) one of these guidelines of professions are “A student shall not misappropriate the work of others or claim it as his/her own work” meaning the student uses honest and verifiable methods in proposing, performing, and evaluating research and reporting research results with particular attention to adherence to rules, regulations, guidelines, and following commonly accepted professional codes or norms and this is how one shows integrity in research .
For example, during each block, we as student physiotherapists ,are required to complete 2x Mini CEX’s for our supervisors, which involves researching certain treatment techniques or different conditions and relaying this information in the form of either written or practical methods, back to the supervisor. In this situation it would be unethical and considered fraud to simply document or practice techniques taken straight from the literature and call it our own work. Therefore in order to uphold a sense of integrity in research all information gathered needs to be correctly extracted, practiced and referenced.

It is very clear that as student physiotherapists it is our obligation and responsibility to portray a standard of professional integrity within a clinical setting as well as in all research in order to provide the best quality of care to our patients without being at the risk of fraud.

References:
1. Cambridge Dictionary. (2015). Integrity. Available: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/integrity. Last accessed 15th August 2018.
2. Flite, C and Harman, L. (2013). Code of Ethics: Principles for Ethical Leadership. NCBI. 10 (1), NA.
3. North Georgia Academic Catalogue. (2012). Academic and Professional Integrity Policy. Available: http://catalog-ngcsu.ung.edu/2011-12%20Graduate%20Catalog/3948.htm. Last accessed 15th August 2018
4. Sweeney, M. (2017). What is Human Nature?. Available: https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-human-nature-definition-theories-examples.html. Last accessed 15th August 2018.