Professionalism and what it means for you

Quality care I PROFESSIONAL

Professionalism and what it means for you Lucie Carlier

David Stonehouse, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire Abstract Within this article, the author will be discussing professionalism and what this means for the support worker in their everyday practice. The difference between being a member of a profession and acting with professionalism will be discussed. The importance of following the Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013) will be stressed, as it is through meeting these standards and behaviours that professionalism will be supported. Topics that will be highlighted include: having a professional attitude; the importance of appearing professional and of communicating in the correct way; confidentiality; together with the maintenance of professional boundaries with service users. Keywords Communication Confidentiality Professionalism Support workers

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upport workers provide an excellent professional service to their users, across a wide range of settings. It has been recognised that support workers are the one key group of staff who have the most patient contact (Cavendish, 2013). Support workers are the face that the public sees on a day-today basis, providing the most basic and intimate care, supporting service users in hospital, community settings and in their own homes. It is therefore essential that support workers demonstrate professionalism when conducting their duties and providing care. Professionalism is the foundation stone upon which everything else is built. Without it, quality care cannot be delivered and service users will not

Professionalism is about achieving excellence in patient-centred care.

receive the care, compassion and dignity they deserve. If support workers do not act in a professional way, then the public will lose trust in the valuable care and services that are provided for them.

What do we mean by ‘professionalism’?

Professionalism and being a member of a profession are two different things. Support workers are already moving along the long road to becoming a profession in their own right with the Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers

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in England (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013) and the new Care Certificate (Skills for Health, 2015), launched this year. Talks of voluntary and compulsory registration continue. These will lead you to become a professional, but you do not need these things to demonstrate professionalism—although the first two will certainly help. As stated by Hughes (2012:198), professionalism is something that ‘develops over time’ and ‘is not fixed, but is rather fluid’. It is also importantly about ‘attaining the highest quality of care by maintaining standards and demonstrating 455

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Skills for Care and Skills for Health

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good judgement and competence at all times’ (Hughes, 2012:198). Brown and Gobbi (2007:5) state that professionalism is about ‘achieving excellence in patientcentred care; to practise with awareness, compassion and competence to high ethical and clinical standards from an up-to-date knowledge base’.

Code words

The importance of being professional for support workers is clearly set out in the Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013). By following this code, support workers will be supported in delivering care and services of the highest standard, and will thereby demonstrate professionalism. This is achieved by being accountable for one’s actions and omissions, promoting and upholding the service user’s privacy and dignity, maintaining their rights and wellbeing, working in collaboration with one’s colleagues, communicating effectively, respecting confidentiality, and undertaking continuing professional development (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013).

Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England

Attitude

Appearance

The Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013) states in clause 1.2 that support workers must ‘always behave and present yourself in a way that does not call into question your suitability to work in a health and social care environment’. Appearances do matter. Do you always adhere strictly to your employer’s uniform policy, or do standards 456

It is through meeting the Code’s standards and behaviours that professionalism will be supported.

sometimes slip in either yourself or your colleague’s appearance? First impressions do count and within the first few minutes of meeting you, service users will judge you and the service you work for on how you look and behave (Boyd and Dare, 2014). It is therefore imperative that you present a calm, professional image at all times. This will help the therapeutic relationship to develop from the start.

Fidelity

Having fidelity is an important part of acting with professionalism. Fidelity is the close professional relationship and obligation that exist between the service user and the support worker. As stated by Stonehouse (2012:250), ‘it is about being faithful, keeping promises, and

always doing what is right’. Service users need to know that those providing care can be trusted to do what is right and to always act in their best interest— which means that the support worker has an understanding of, and upholds, their rights and wellbeing. Clause 7 of the Code of Conduct (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013) discusses being aware of and promoting equal opportunities, inclusion and diversity.

Communication

The Code (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013) states in clause 4.1 that support workers must ‘communicate respectfully with people who use health and care services and their carers in an open, accurate, effective, straightforward


It is important to have a professional attitude to your work and for this professionalism to be evident to those around you. A professional attitude is about taking things seriously, always striving to deliver the best care possible and working to the best of your abilities for your service users. If a service user were to see you leaning up against the wall, gossiping with a colleague, or yawning and looking bored, this would not convey the right attitude, and you would not be seen as being professional.

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Box 1. Code of Conduct in summary 1. Be accountable by making sure you can answer for your actions or omissions 2. Promote and uphold the privacy, dignity, rights, health and wellbeing of people who use health and care services—and their carers—at all times 3. Work in collaboration with your colleagues to ensure the delivery of high-quality, safe and compassionate healthcare, care and support 4. Communicate in an open, and effective way to promote the health, safety and wellbeing of people who use health and care services—and their carers 5. Respect a person’s right to confidentiality 6. Strive to improve the quality of healthcare, care and support through continuing professional development 7. Uphold and promote equality, diversity and inclusion Source: Skills for Care and Skills for Health (2013)

and confidential way’. How we communicate in the workplace plays a large part in how we are perceived and if we are acting with professionalism. Do we always speak to our service users in a way they can easily understand? If we use inappropriate language, this will neither be demonstrating a professional behaviour nor be effective. Lewis (2014) states that effective communication is when it is two-way, with information flowing back and forth. Do you give your service users time to talk and demonstrate that you are actively listening to them (Stonehouse, 2014)?


Confidentiality

As stated by Peate and Potterton (2009:609), confidentiality is ‘one of the cornerstones of health and social care’ and when this fails, the therapeutic relationship is harmed. The Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013) states that you must respect service user’s rights to confidentiality and that all information concerning people is kept confidential. Maintaining professionalism would be not to discuss patient information outside of the clinical setting and not leaving notes or other confidential sources, such as results, X-rays, referral forms, unprotected and open to public view. If using electronic notes, it is important that these be password-protected.

Maintaining professional boundaries

The Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013) states in clause 1.6 that support workers must ‘establish and maintain clear and appropriate professional boundaries in your relationships with people who use health and care services, carers and colleagues at all times’. For support workers, the professional boundary is the space between the service user’s vulnerability and the HCA’s own power (Peate, 2015). Peate (2015) goes on to state that this power comes from their professional position and knowledge of the service user and their needs. All patients are vulnerable to a certain extent when they are placed within a health or social care setting, or requiring the input of others to provide for their needs. It is therefore imperative that this unequal power balance be recognised and the professional boundary maintained. Sale and Neale (2014: 58) suggest ways in which this can be achieved. These include avoiding ‘being over-friendly; inappropriate self-disclosure; doing too much for a client at the expense of others; taking advantage of a client for one’s own needs or gain; taking too much interest in the client beyond the confines of the supportive relationship’. The Code of Conduct (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013) also states in clause 1.7 that you must ‘never accept any offers of loans, gifts, benefits or hospitality from anyone you are supporting or anyone close to them, which may be seen to compromise your position’.

Conclusion

So to conclude, this article has highlighted the importance of support workers always acting in a professional manner. Service users rightly expect to receive care by staff who demonstrate professional values and who always act in their best interests, placing them at the heart of health and social care. Support workers are important members of the professional body of staff and should be recognised as such by the wider multidisciplinary team. Professionalism is a combination of behaviours and attitudes and through the

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support worker adhering closely to the Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013), this will be achieved and quality care delivered. BJHCA References Boyd C, Dare J (2014) Communication Skills for Nurses. Wiley Blackwell, Chichester Brown J, Gobbi M (2007) Introduction to professional studies in nursing. In: Brown J, Libberton P (eds) Principles of Professional Studies in Nursing. Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire Cavendish C (2013) An Independent Review Into Healthcare Assistants And Support Workers In The NHS And Social Care Settings. http://tinyurl. com/m3zr7pe (accessed 10 August 2015) Hughes R (2012) Promoting professionalism: have you had the conversation? British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 6(4): 198 Lewis T (2014) Communication and team working in perioperative practice. Journal of Operating Department Practitioners 2(3): 139–44. dx.doi. org/10.12968/jodp.2014.2.3.139 Peate I (2015) The professional use of social media. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 9(7): 350–3 Peate I, Potterton J (2009) Hush! Let’s talk confidentiality. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 3(12): 609–12 Sale J, Neale NM (2014) The nurse’s approach and communication: foundations for compassionate care (33–74). In: Baillie L (ed) Developing Practical Nursing Skills. 4th edn. Taylor & Francis Group, Abingdon Skills for Care and Skills for Health (2013) Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England. www. skillsforhealth.org.uk/standards/item/217-codeof-conduct (accessed 10 August 2015) Skills for Health (2015) The Care Certificate— Setting The Standards For Frontline Care. http:// www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/news/blog/item/173the-care-certificate (accessed 10 August 2015) Stonehouse D (2012) The support worker’s guide to ethical practice. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 6(5): 249–50 Stonehouse D (2014) Communication and the support worker. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 8(8): 394–7

Key points Professionalism is the foundation stone upon which everything else is built Delivering the highest quality of patientcentred care and practising with compassion and competence from an up-to-date knowledge base will lead to professionalism Attitude and appearance are important in developing the therapeutic relationship Good communication and confidentiality are important factors in professionalism Professional boundaries between carer and cared-for must be maintained at all times

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