Why incorporate a professional practice?
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In 1982, the American Association of Women Radiologists surveyed women radiologists practicing in the United States to acquire information concerning their training, practice patterns, lifestyles, and opinions about employment equity. This report summarizes the resulting data from 336 responses to the 1,700 questionnaires that were distributed. As would be expected with the increasing number of women currently graduating from medical school, women radiologists responding to the questionnaire are younger than the group of radiologists as a whole. However, geographic distribution and percentage of board certification (96%) are comparable for the two groups. Data from the survey indicate that at least 61% of women radiologists are involved in private practice and 39% in academic radiology. For all radiologists, the respective figures are 82% and 18%. Most women responding to the survey believed that their income was comparable to that of men in similar positions. On the other hand, 56% of respondents perceived inequities in the ability of women radiologists to secure desirable jobs.
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BACKGROUND: Educational meetings and printed educational materials are the two most common types of continuing education for health professionals. An important aim of continuing education is to improve professional practice so that patients can receive improved health care. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of educational meetings on professional practice and health care outcomes. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group specialised register, MEDLINE (from 1966), the Research and Development Resource Base in Continuing Medical Education in January 1999 and reference lists of articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials or well designed quasi-experimental studies examining the effect of continuing education meetings (including lectures, workshops, and courses) on the clinical practice of health professionals or health care outcomes. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers independently applied inclusion criteria, assessed the quality of each study, and extracted study data. We attempted to collect missing data from investigators. We conducted both qualitative and quantitative analyses. MAIN RESULTS: Thirty-two studies were included with a total of 36 comparisons. The studies involved from 13 to 411 health professionals (total N= 2995) and were judged to be of moderate or high quality, although methods were generally poorly reported. There was substantial variation in the complexity of the targeted behaviours, baseline compliance, the characteristics of the interventions and the results. The heterogeneity of the results was best explained by differences in the interventions. For 10 comparisons of interactive workshops, there were moderate or moderately large effects in six (all of which were statistically significant) and small effects in four (one of which was statistically significant). For interventions that combined workshops and didactic presentations, there were moderate or moderately large effects in 12 comparisons (eleven of which were statistically significant) and small effects in seven comparisons (one of which was statistically significant). In seven comparisons of didactic presentations, there were no statistically significant effects, with the exception of one out of four outcome measures in one study. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: Interactive workshops can result in moderately large changes in professional practice. Didactic sessions alone are unlikely to change professional practice.
BACKGROUND: Audit and feedback has been identified as having the potential to change the practice of health care professionals. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of audit and feedback compared with other interventions in changing health professional practice and to assess whether the effectiveness of audit and feedback can be improved by modifying how it is done. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched MEDLINE up to June 1997, the Research and Development Resource Base in Continuing Medical Education, and reference lists of related systematic reviews and articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials of audit and feedback (defined as any summary of clinical performance of health care over a specified period of time) compared with other interventions. The participants were health care providers responsible for patient care. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed study quality. MAIN RESULTS: Twelve studies were included involving more than 2194 physicians. Seven trials with direct comparisons were included. The targeted behaviours were the management of low haemoglobin, the delivery of preventive care services (two studies), the management of high cholesterol, the performance of cervical smears, and the ordering of diagnostic tests (two studies). From the results of four trials, there is little evidence of a measurable effect of adding a complementary intervention such as a local consensus process to audit and feedback compared to audit and feedback alone. Two of three trials that compared audit and feedback to reminders reported that reminders were more effective in improving the delivery of some preventive services. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: It is not possible to recommend a complementary intervention to enhance the effectiveness of audit and feedback. Reminders might be more effective than audit and feedback to improve the delivery of some preventive services but the results are not striking. Few trials have investigated the effect of varying different characteristics of the audit and feedback process. Consideration should be given to testing the effects of modifying important characteristics such as the content, source, timing, recipient and format.
The Scope of Professional Practice has the potential to revolutionise the practice of Accident and Emergency nursing. However, for such a revolution to take place re-evaluation of the thinking and doing of Accident and Emergency nursing is needed. In particular, many organisational approaches to work such as team-building and multidisciplinary work need to be recognised and the place of the nurse within them formalised. The make-up of nurses' work in Accident and Emergency needs to be understood, so that expansion of the role can encompass a wide range of 'caring' work as well as easily identify tasks. In addition the use of the Scope of Professional Practice should be based upon clarification and recognition of dilemmas which may lead to informed risk taking by Accident and Emergency nurses. Once nurses' work in Accident and Emergency is understood, the short- and long-term effects on the continuity of patient and family care of nurses' actions and non-action can be explored. Communication is seen as underpinning all professional and care development in relation to the use of the Scope of Professional Practice in Accident and Emergency. The art of listening as well as talking to colleagues, patients and families is important if the revolution is to take place.
This innovative professional practice model was developed to assist in the redesign of the current nursing care delivery system in hospitals. It is expected that this model will facilitate the promotion of professional practice and that the results will be positive ones for patients, nurses, and hospitals. As Barry and Gibbons wrote recently, "Changing circumstances have become so compelling that it is no longer a question of whether familiar systems need redesigning, but rather how soon and by what means a different system will take place of the existing one."
BACKGROUND: Both the theory of diffusion of innovations and the social influences model of behaviour change suggest that using local opinion leaders to transmit norms and model appropriate behaviour may improve health professional practice. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects using local opinion leaders on the practice of health professionals or patient outcomes. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched MEDLINE to May 1998, the Research and Development Resource Base in Continuing Medical Education, and reference lists of related systematic reviews and articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials of the use of local opinion leaders (defined as health professionals nominated by their colleagues as being educationally influential). The participants were health care professionals responsible for patient care. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed study quality. MAIN RESULTS: Eight studies were included involving more than 296 health professionals. A variety of patient problems were targeted, including acute myocardial infarction, cancer pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic lung disease, vaginal birth after caesarean section, labour and delivery, and urinary catheter care. Six of seven trials that measured health professional practice demonstrated some improvement for at least one outcome variable, and in two trials, the results were statistically significant and clinically important. In three trials that measured patient outcomes, only one achieved an impact upon practice that was of practical importance: local opinion leaders were effective in improving the rate of vaginal birth after previous caesarean section. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: Using local opinion leaders results in mixed effects on professional practice. However, it is not always clear what local opinion leaders do and replicable descriptions are needed. Further research is required to determine if opinion leaders can be identified and in which circumstances they are likely to influence the practice of their peers.
The Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, intended as a standard for teaching and practicing software engineering, documents the ethical and professional obligations of software engineers. The code should instruct practitioners about the standards society expects them to meet, about what their peers strive for, and about what to expect of one another. In addition, the code should also inform the public about the responsibilities that are important to the profession. Adopted in 2000 by the IEEE Computer Society and the ACM--two leading international computing societies--the code of ethics is intended as a guide for members of the evolving software engineering profession. The code was developed by a multinational task force with additional input from other professionals from industry, government posts, military installations, and educational professions.
Over the past several years, involvement strategies such as professional practice models and shared governance strategies have been implemented in a variety of nursing practice settings. This article reviews the results of a secondary analysis of an evaluation of a professional practice model at a large academic medical center. This review compares critical care and general acute care nurses in terms of their perceptions of and satisfaction with work in a professional practice environment and identifies and contrasts significant predictors of general job satisfaction and turnover intent within the two groups. Implications of differences in outcomes in different settings are explored.
The integration of a professional practice model of nursing and nursing informatics support for that model is congruent with the goals of a professional nursing union. Thus, the collective-bargaining unit can be a powerful ally to nursing management in achieving the integration of a professional practice model of nursing and nursing informatics. This alliance is based on a shared vision of the nature of professional nursing practice and a common concern for the quality of working life and working environment of the professional nurse. This alliance can provide the basis for decision making about the type of nursing information system to be selected or developed for installation in a particular organization. Use of a participatory decision-making process will ensure that all nursing stakeholders are committed to the decision made and prepared to assist with the resolution of implementation issues as they arise. A harmonious alliance of nursing management and the nursing union ensures a partnership that will protect the clinical nursing caregiver and provide a unified voice for nursing within the organization to resist any attempt by other stakeholders to implement an information system that will not meet the needs of nursing. If nursing management and the collective bargaining unit share the concept of a professional model of nursing practice and view nursing informatics as a tool to assist the nursing staff to operationalize the professional model of nursing, then collaboration in resolving issues related to the implementation of nursing information systems will facilitate the process of achieving the integration of a professional practice model of nursing and nursing informatics support for that model.
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Many nursing administrators have implemented hospital wide professional practice systems in the form of shared governance or collaborative practice models. Current literature shows limited descriptions of shared governance from a staff nurse's perspective. This article describes the successful implementation of a staff-initiated professional practice model (PPM). Using the nursing process, a PPM can be instituted in any PACU when specific characteristics of professional practice are present within the group.
Personal characteristics and professional practice patterns of enrollees in ASHP special interest groups (SIGs) were surveyed in early 1984. The mail questionnaire consisting of 23 items was sent to the entire universe of 3595 SIG enrollees, 514 of whom belonged to more than one SIG. The response rate was 64.7%. About two thirds of the respondents were between 25 and 39 years old; 73% were men. Nearly 36% had earned more than one academic degree, and 30% had completed an ASHP-accredited pharmacy residency. Most respondents spent a majority of their work time in a community nonprofit hospital (46%) or a university teaching hospital (22%). The following percentage of respondents spent some time in the functions indicated; the mean percentage of time those respondents spent in a function is given in parentheses: administration, 76% (52%); education, 69% (16%); drug distribution and control, 60% (17%); patient-oriented services, 47% (17%); drug information, 54% (12%); research, 28% (17%); pharmaceutical marketing/sales, 6% (25%); other, 12% (29%). The following percentage of respondents spent half or more of their practice time in the functions indicated: administration, 48%; drug distribution and control, 26%; education, 5%; and patient-oriented activities, 4%. By and large only a small percentage of SIG enrollees spent a majority of their practice time providing patient-specific services. This suggests that for most SIGs enrollment corresponds to an interest in a special practice area, not a heavy practice commitment to that area.
CONCEPTS AND ASSUMPTIONS of self-in-relation theory of women's development, as proposed by feminist scholars at the Stone Center in Wellesley, Massachusetts, are applied in this article. This theory was used as a framework to guide staff development and mentorship roles of advanced practice nurses. How the theory served to direct these roles and assisted in development of a professional practice model is discussed. Exemplars from the authors' practices and professional practice outcomes after 2 years of theory implementation are presented.