Clinical Instructorsʼ Descriptions of Physical Therapist Student Professional Behaviors

Abstract

Background and Purpose. Clinical instructors (CIs) have significant influence and responsibility guiding students toward professional competence through evaluation of clinical performance. CIs evaluate the professional behaviors of students in all three domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. The purposes of this study were to identify the behaviors that CIs expect, to describe appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, and to compare these behaviors to those cited in the literature. Subjects. Eleven physical therapists from variety of clinical settings, with an average of 8.9 years of experience as CIs, were interviewed. Methods. Subjects agreed to one-time, audiotaped, individual interview. A pre-interview form and methodological journal maintained by the researcher were also used to gather data for this study. Open-ended interview questions were used to identify the expected appropriate and observed inappropriate professional behaviors of students. The interviews were then transcribed. Interview transcripts were analyzed using qualitative methods for emergent themes and concepts. Results. Twenty-four students demonstrating inappropriate behaviors were discussed during the course of the CI interviews. CIs supervised range of one to six students with inappropriate behavior. These behaviors were divided into four concepts: An Attitude, Lack of Interest, Poor Communication, and Being Unprofessional. behaviors were divided into concepts: Accepts Responsibility for Learning, Communication Skills, Empathy, and Professionalism. Discussion and Conclusion. The appropriate behaviors identified by these clinical instructors are similar to what has been reported in the physical therapy literature, with the exception of the expectation for empathy. The concepts of and behaviors related to inappropriate behaviors have not been cited in the physical therapy literature. Descriptions of these inappropriate behaviors or Inabilities may be useful to academic faculty, CIs, and students, when examining and evaluating behaviors of students during clinical education experiences. Key Words: Student professional behavior, Generic Abilities, Inappropriate behaviors. INTRODUCTION Professional behaviors are skills that are expected of graduates of physical therapist education programs. Professional behaviors include all three domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. Inappropriate behavior in any domain can potentially affect patient care and outcomes1 and, therefore, all domains are important in clinical settings. Research and commentary in the literature of the health professions identifies professional behaviors as difficult to assess and evaluate,1-11 particularly behaviors that are affective in nature. Appropriate attitudes, values, beliefs and behaviors of the affective domain are more elusive to identify, develop and emulate than cognitive or skill behaviors.3(pi578) Professionalism is described as a repertoire of behaviors, in addition to core of knowledge and psychomotor skills (necessary) to be successful as physical therapist. 12(pviii) The physical therapy profession's Code of Ethics and Guide for Professional Conduct published by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)13 identifies the rudiments of expected practice and behavior for physical therapists. Respect for individuals, responsibility to the public and profession, criteria for remuneration, and maintenance of high standards in all areas of practice, are expectations in physical therapist practice as well as in other professions.14'16 A Normative Model of Physical Therapist Professional Education17 reflects the physical therapist profession's consensus on the purpose, scope, and content of professional education. It is comprehensive document detailing the expectations held by academic and clinical facilities for the preparation of professional physical therapists.17 The Normative Model includes detailed information about the expectations for professional behavior. …