One afternoon a patient came for her physiotherapy appointment and she was referred from the doctor for an intercostal muscle strain. A muscle strain is when the muscle stretches and a strain of any layer of the intercostals muscles can cause pain and difficulty breathing (Axtell, 2017). Before the patient came for physiotherapy I saw in the appointment book her diagnoses. Although, I knew what a muscle strain is, I was still unsure about the treatment. I then decided to ask the Head Physiotherapist at my placement for help. She guided me on possible treatment such as educating the patient of the importance of rest, breathing exercises and stretches for the muscle surrounding the strain. When the patient arrived for her physiotherapy session I conducted my subjective and objective assessment as well as the treatment suggested by the physiotherapist. The session was successful and the patient went home. The patient then returned a week later without an appointment and requested to be seen by a professional and not a student.
Therefore I started to question what is classified as a professional. I then queried what is deemed as professional. Merriam Webster (n.d) defines professional as a characteristic within a profession. In relation to being professional, a profession is known as a calling that requires specialized knowledge that involves intensive academic preparation over a long period (Merriam Webster, n.d). This made me question further as fourth year students are we not pursing a profession although we are still studying? Moreover professionalism is then defined as “the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or professional person” (Merriam Webster, n.d.). I furthered my research to find the qualities that a “professional” should possess. According to Porcupile (2015), the qualities of a professional person are specialized knowledge, competency, honesty, accountability, self-regulation and Image.
Furthermore, I looked at each of these qualities and I could recognise that I am already showing some of these characteristics, but I was still lacking in some of them to. Especially the quality of self-regulation was lacking during the second visit of this patient at the clinic. Self-regulation refers to being able to make a situation right and to stay calm and not get angry (Porcupile, 2015). It also involves considering the emotions of others and not let a bad day impact on how you interact with patients (Porcupile, 2015). I started doubting myself when the patient requested to be seen by a professional and not a student as I could not think of a reason behind this.
After the qualified physiotherapist at the placement saw the patient he then told me that the patient was still in a lot of pain and she didn’t do my exercises. He also explained that the patient went back to work and did not follow my instructions to rest for a few days even though a sister booked her off. He then told me to not worry about the situation, as the patient still had a lot of pain and she thought that my treatment for her was ineffective, although the physiotherapist told her the same thing as I did and gave her a home exercise program.
In addition, I also realized that being a professional requires me to understand and respect the patients’ rights. Some of the rights a patient has are to participate in decision making and also the choice of health services. The National Patients’ rights charter (2016) states that a patient has the right to participate in decision-making that involves one’s own health. It also states that a person has the right to choose a particular healthcare provider for services. Therefore, I had to respect the choice of the patient to be seen by the qualified physiotherapist, in her words “a professional.”
However, with rights come responsibilities. Some of these responsibilities the patient have are that they must take care of their own health, comply with prescribed treatment or rehabilitation procedures, respect the rights of other patients and healthcare providers (Health Professions Council of South Africa, 2016). The patient in this situation did not take care of her own health and she didn’t comply with the prescribed treatment. The patient went home after our session and she didn’t do her breathing exercises nor rest.
To conclude professionalism is qualities that characterize a professional person. Therefore, if you show these qualities you can be seen as a professional even though you are still a student studying. Furthermore, in order to become the best professional that you can be you not only have to practise your practical skills as a physiotherapist, but also practise your professional skills and qualities. If you become more professional now as a student the role of being a professional in a profession will be much easier to achieve when you start your first job.
References:
Axtell, B. (2017). How to Identify and Treat an Intercostals Muscle Strain. Retrieved 21 March from
https://www.healthline.com/health/intercostal-muscle-strain
Merriam Webster. (n.d.). Definition of Profession. Retrieved 3 April, 2019, from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/profession
Merriam Webster. (n.d.). Definition of Professional. Retrieved 3 April, 2019, from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/professional
Merriam Webster. (n.d.). Definition of Professionalism. Retrieved 3 April, 2019, from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/professionalism
Health Professions Council of South Africa, (2016). National Patients’ Rights Charter. Retrieved 3 March, 2019, from
https://www.hpcsa.co.za/Conduct/Ethics
Porcupile. D, (2015). What is Professionalism? What does professionalism mean to you? Retrieved 4 March, 2019, from
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-professionalism-does-mean-you-daniel-w-porcupile
6 thoughts on “She wanted to be seen by a Professional…”
Hi there Agatha,
Thank you for sharing your writing piece on professionalism. I am going to follow the rubric guidelines for feedback.
Context: Your topic falls within the topics we have discussed in our ethic lectures. Consider adding a picture for the reader as it may help to trigger thoughts about the writing piece and intrigue them to read it. I suggest a picture with words which all links to professionalism. In the writing piece, you mentioned: “According to Porcupile (2015), the qualities of a professional person are specialized knowledge, competency, honesty, accountability, self-regulation and image”, maybe try get a picture with some of these words on? I feel I can relate to your topic as I have also been in this position.
Argument: You proposed strong arguments with good statements and reasoning. However, I feel that you can further be justified more strongly by the use of stronger words. You have good referenced statements, which definitely validates what you are saying in your writing piece. Although your arguments are strong, I suggest, finding literature that deals with what peoples’ thoughts are when receiving physiotherapy treatment from a student physiotherapist vs a qualified physiotherapist? I feel this would add additional value to your writing piece.
References: You used good references; however, just check your reference list at the bottom as Miriam Webster is written thrice. Also, remember to add the date when retrieved. In terms of intext references, the first name is excluded eg. (Webster, n.d.).
(Just remember the in text reference you must still include)
Writing: To aid in the flow of your thoughts, consider linking words such as: therefore, nonetheless, moreover or in addition as these words will help with linking your arguments. In terms of grammar errors, consider using commas after using linking words. The text is easy to read as one topic is dealt with in every paragraph. This enables the writing piece to really flow lovely. The conclusion is very good as it ends of the writing piece by linking the statements and everything ties together.
I really enjoyed reading this; it triggered me to think about my thoughts on the topic.
Well done Agatha!
– Jana x
Thank you for the comments Jana. It is noted and appreciated.
Hi Agatha
I really enjoyed reading your writing piece I feel that it relates to the topics covered in our ethics lectures.
Here are a few spelling and grammatical errors
One afternoon a patient came for her physiotherapy appointment and she was referred from the doctor for an intercostal muscle strain. A muscle strain is when the muscle stretches and a strain of any layer of the intercostal muscles can cause pain and difficulty breathing. (must include ref still). Before the patient came for physiotherapy I saw in the appointment book her diagnoses. Although, I knew what a muscle strain is, I was still unsure about the treatment. I then decided to ask the Head Physiotherapist at my placement for help. She guided me on possible treatment such as educating the patient of the importance of rest, breathing exercises and stretches for the muscles surrounding the strain. When the patient arrived for her physiotherapy session I conducted my subjective and objective assessment as well as the treatment suggested by the physiotherapist. The session was successful and the patient went home.
The patient returned back a week later without an appointment and requested to be seen by a professional and not a student.
I started thinking “what is a professional?” And also “what is professionalism?” Merriam Webster defines professional as a characteristic of a profession. A profession is defined as “a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation” (Merriam Webster, n.d.). Aren’t we already professionals as 4th year students even though we are still students studying? Professionalism is then defined as “the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or professional person” (Merriam Webster, n.d.). The question is what is the qualities of a professional person then? According to Porcupile (2015), the qualities of a professional person are specialized knowledge, competency, honesty, accountability, self-regulation and Image.
As I look at each of these qualities, I recognized that I am already showing some of these characteristics, although I still lack in some. Especially the quality of self-regulation was lacking during the second visit of this patient at the clinic. Self-regulation refers to being able to make a situation right and to stay calm and not get angry (Porcupile, 2015). It also involves considering the emotions of others and not let a bad day impact on how you interact with patients (Porcupile, 2015). I started doubting myself when the patient requested to be seen by a professional and not a student as I could not think of a reason behind this. After the qualified physiotherapist at the placement saw the patient he then told me that the patient was still in a lot of pain and as she didn’t do my exercises. He also explained that the patient went back to work and did not follow my instructions to rest for a few days even though a sister booked her off. He then told me to not worry about the situation, as the patient still had a lot of pain and she thought that my treatment for her was ineffective, although the physiotherapist told her the same thing as I did and gave her a home exercise program.
I also realized that being a professional requires me to understand and respect the patients’ rights. Some of the rights a patient has is to participate in decision making and also the choice of health services. The National Patients’ rights charter (2016) states that a patient has the right to participate in decision-making that involves one’s own health. It also states that a person has the right to choose a particular healthcare provider for services. Therefore, I had to respect the choice of the patient to be seen by the qualified physiotherapist, in her words “a professional.”
However, with rights come responsibilities. Some of these responsibilities the patient have are that they must take care of their own health, comply with prescribed treatment or rehabilitation procedures, respect the rights of other patients and healthcare providers (Health Professions Council of South Africa, 2016). The patient in this situation did not take care of her own health and she didn’t comply with the prescribed treatment. The patient went home after our session and she didn’t do her breathing exercises nor rest.
To conclude professionalism is qualities that characterize a professional person. Therefore, if you show these qualities you can be seen as a professional even though you are still a student studying. Furthermore in order to become the best professional that you can be you not only have to practice your practical skills as a physiotherapist, but also your professional skills and qualities. If you become more professional now as a student the role of being a professional in a profession will be much easier to achieve when you start your first job.
I really enjoyed reading your piece and look forward to reading your final piece.
Well done Agatha!
-Gowa
Thank you Gowa for correcting my spelling and grammatical errors.
Hi Agatha, Thank you for sharing this interesting piece. Here are a few guidelines
Comment :
Context: The text relates to the ethic topics discussed in class. I feel as students we face this on a daily.
Argument: you have made a good argument. Your topic is easy to follow and you evidence relates and supports your argument well. Your clinical approach is well detailed and has a logical flow. The ending is capturing as we have to build ourselves as professionals.
References: good referencing
Writing :
You have the correct idea with where you are going regarding your argument. I was trying to understand the linkage in the first paragraph form the profession to the professionalism. With regards to the first paragraph I felt confused I tried to link it up as the following:
I started to question what is classified as a professional. I then queried what is deemed as professional. Webster (n.d) defines professional as a characteristic within a profession. In relation to being professional, a profession is known as a calling that requires specialized knowledge that involves intensive academic preparation over a long period (Webster, n.d). This made me question further as fourth year students are we not pursing a profession?. I furthered my research to find the qualities that a “professional” should possess. According to Porcupile (2015), the qualities of a professional person are specialized knowledge, competency, honesty, accountability, self-regulation and Image.
Keep up the good work.
Aly
Thank you for the comments Alyssha. I will use your suggestion.