Professional Board Research Articles

Educators’ Perceptions of Professional Growth Plans in the Context of Professional Learning Communities

Professional Growth Plans (PGPs), a model of professional development for educators, were completed in the context of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) as part of a grant from a state Professional Educator Standards Board. Participants were in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and represented different educator roles in two urban elementary schools. The PGP process was introduced in PLCs and focused on the implementation of High Leverage Practices (HLPs) for inclusive classrooms (McLeskey et al., 2019). In a collaborative effort with university facilitators, educators engaged in tenets of Participatory Action Research (PAR) through enactment of the PGP process to implement and reflect on outcomes related to their use of HLPs. Educators selected PGP goals focused on areas of instructional growth and improvement of student performance. PAR was enacted in the context of educators’ individual instructional settings through implementation of PGPs. The purpose of the grant was to familiarize and support educators in the PGP process. The purpose of the study was to identify educators’ perceived benefits and challenges with the implementation of PGPs within the context of a collaborative PLC.

TikTok and the changing landscape of therapeutic digital spaces of care

The COVID-19 pandemic increased the prevalence of mental health issues across the U.S. While therapists have been able to shift to telehealth delivery of mental healthcare, there has been a recent increase in the number of therapists on social media. Social media as a site of engagement has been feared by systems of power which regulate the ethics of therapists, and despite the influx of therapists online, these ethical guidelines remain under researched. Feminist geographers have explored theories and practices of care within different spaces, and especially in the wake of the pandemic, there is a need to conceptualize how therapists provide care within digital spaces and how this affects the delivery of mental healthcare. This study sampled 100 videos on the social media site, TikTok, for a content analysis using the hashtag #therapistsoftiktok. The videos were analyzed to uncover themes relating to how therapists provided care to the viewer. Four themes emerged in the analysis and showed that therapists provided care both directly and indirectly to the viewers. Direct care included providing psychoeducation to the viewers and offering validations/affirmations. Indirect care included normalizing therapy and humanizing the therapist, and these videos were interpreted to focus more on relationship building and addressing viewers' anxieties about therapy and therapists, which may allow viewers to engage in therapy in the future. This study identified ways that therapists are engaging in care work digitally, despite the admonishments and warnings from professional therapy boards. Ethical concerns still abound, as intimacy and relationship-building can occur across digital spaces. However, rather than simply abstaining from social media, therapists are engaging in resistant and creative ways to provide care and destigmatize mental health issues to a global audience.

Establishing Professional Pathways to Facilitate a Sustainable and Educated School Library Workforce in Australia

This paper presents an overview of a research project commissioned by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) in November 2021 to address the specialised needs of school libraries within the context of ALIA’s (2022) vision for developing aprofessional pathways framework. Recommendations are based on the findings and conclusions, while also takinginto consideration the ALIA Professional Pathways Board’s recommendations in response to the Professional Pathways Technical Report.

Perceived Psychological Preparedness of the New Tertiary Curriculum Graduates in Taking the Professional Board Examination

This study was conducted to explore the perceived psychological preparedness of the selected graduates from the psychology department of the University of Cebu-Main Campus. It described the participants` preparedness in taking the psychometrician board examination. The way the participants adapt to the challenges experienced while reviewing, the experiences encountered by the participants through the factors, and the different coping strategies used to enhance and prepare for the upcoming board examination. The study utilized the qualitative method. There were sixteen (16) participants in this study, and they were selected through non-probability sampling, specifically purposive sampling. In data collection, an interview with a semi-structured interview guide has been used. In analyzing the qualitative data, thematic analysis by Boyatzis is being used. Codes, categories, and finding common themes were identified from the transcript of in-depth interviews. Eleven (11) emergent themes were created based on the participant's responses, which were classified under three (3) primary themes that provided answers to the sub-problems in this research. The emergent themes were extracted from the significant critical statements of the key participants. The description provided by the participants on their preparedness for taking the professional board examination, Factors that Influenced the Participants` Preparedness, has four (4) emergent themes categorized as: On Motivation; On Academic Factors; On Individual Factors; On Environmental Factors. For the challenges faced by the graduate participants about preparedness, the overarching theme is Challenges experienced by the Participants. The preparation has five (5) emergent themes: Lack of Academic Preparation, the Impact on Overall Health, High Expectations, Poor Study Habits, And Self-Confidence. The ways or strategies the participants used to cope with the difficulties faced in the examination preparation, the overarching theme is Participants’ Cope with the Challenges Met has two (2) emergent themes identified: By Ways of Addressing Challenges; By Seeking Social Support. The findings and recommendations derived from the study were used to improve the preparedness of the new tertiary curriculum graduates in taking the professional board examination.

PIXEL: Challenges of Designing a Professional Board Game for Astronomy Education

PIXEL - Picture (of) the Universe is a board game developed by INAF - Italian National Institute for Astrophysics in collaboration with GAME Science Research Center. The game simulates the astrophysics research environment, particularly emphasising the observation and study of cosmic bodies at different resolutions. ​​Image resolution is a crucial element in astrophysics, but the intrinsic complexity and challenges of making high-resolution images of the distant Universe are not easily and generally perceivable. We envisioned PIXEL driven by this challenge. Games intended to engage students with science either concentrate on the contents to foster the learning process or focus on life skills solicited by scientific practices. Game mechanics are then either a leverage of scientific knowledge or a science-like behavioural model, depending on the expected outcome of the game-based learning process. In addition to that, game-based learning in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) generally is designed by science practitioners and science communication and education experts. The design process of PIXEL has been a novel joint effort between scientists, science communicators, professional game designers, and game-market and award advisors. We produced a game in which the mechanics are the core of scientific learning, implicitly telling about science while making the player experience it. The innovation of this process is to obtain a game that encountered positive feedback both from the community of game experts and the educational context. The final output is a professional board game suitable for STEM education that promotes scientific citizenship in the audience.In this work, we discuss the game design process and describe how we included our scientific educational messages of image resolution and research dynamics as processes within the game mechanics without making them explicit during the gameplay. We also present a preliminary engagement evaluation of PIXEL and its efficacy in delivering implicit scientific messages through its mechanics.

Abuse of power in the disciplinary actions of a state psychology licensing board: inequitable outcomes and early career psychologists.

The field of psychology has established high professional standards which have become a cornerstone of the practice of psychology. However, powerful boards tasked with administering these standards can operate with little oversight, making it difficult to monitor whether these institutions are operating in a fair and impartial way. In particular, early-career psychologists who have less experience and power in their initial years of independent practice may be singularly vulnerable as they have relatively little experience to navigate the profession, including fielding complaints that may be made against them to a licensing board. While it is essential to ensure early-career psychologists are upholding their commitments to the practice, there are risks in policing their activities without orienting toward growth, learning, and professional development. Even the smallest disciplinary action may never be expunged from a psychologist's record, resulting in long-term implications for insurance coverage, reputation and future professional viability in the field. Overly-punitive approaches can be distressing or even traumatizing. In this paper, we examine disciplinary actions of the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology (KBEP) from the years 2000 to 2020 (N = 65) to determine the methodology by which the Board administers its oversight function. We analyze the nature of the discipline received (fines, suspensions, continuing education, supervision) revealing a two-tiered system of punishments, and provide context regarding the nature of the disciplinary process and its impacts. We report on qualitative interviews of early career psychologists subject to disciplinary actions by the Board, and psychologists who supervised early career psychologists investigated by the Board. We compare legislation governing KBEP and make comparisons to the workings of licensing boards in three other states. Using these findings, we make recommendations for revisions to the applicable legislation and administrative processes of the Board to establish an improved balance between public safety, the well-being of new psychologists, equity considerations such as race, and the development of the practice of psychology in Kentucky. This work brings to light previously unexamined injustices that can knowingly or unknowingly be perpetuated by licensing Boards, and can be used to inform the creation of more just, balanced and inclusive professional Boards.

Accreditor and employer experiences of emergency care CPD provision

Background Continuous professional development (CPD) accreditors and emergency care (EC) employers are indispensable in designing learning opportunities. However, there is a paucity of research about how they can contribute to and enhance CPD. This study explored accreditors and employers’ experiences of CPD provision and how it could be improved. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with accreditor and employer stakeholders. Data were subject to thematic analysis. Results Employers wanted to be more engaged in CPD decision-making and collaborate with the regulator. CPD lacked quality control mechanisms, accountability and responsibility. CPD formats, topics and types should be relevant and link theory to practice. Accreditors indicated that CPD guidelines should be revised and be specific to the Professional Board of Emergency Care, and the regulator should provide online CPD activities. Discussion CPD requires a multi-layered, multi-modal approach. To be effective and relevant, CPD requires collaboration between EC stakeholders, including accreditors, the employers, the regulator and practitioners over its the format and content.

Attitudes and practices of dentists treating HIV+ patients in the era of new antiretroviral therapy: A 12-year update

During the first years of the HIV pandemic, the virus diffusion was responsible for discriminatory behavior from medical and dental care workers towards HIV-infected patients, as described by our research group in 2009. The aim of the current study was to provide an update on the previous data, investigating the presence of discriminatory behaviors, evaluating the level of dentists’ knowledge about the virus and proposing strategies to be implemented to avoid professional exposure and cross-infections. This study was a cross-sectional, online, national survey on dentists, members of the main national dental associations (ANDI and AIO). The questionnaire was divided into four major sections, with the same structure as the questionnaire administered in 2009. The differences between groups were analyzed using the software program IBM SPSS Statistic, version 21.0. A total of 1054 dentists filled out the questionnaire completely. Among them 0.04% revealed a discriminatory attitude towards HIV-infected patients. The univariate analysis showed that discrimination towards HIV + patients was statistically associated with personal experiences and the level of fear associated with treating them (p = 0.001) and with the type of dental treatments performed (p = 0.01). This cross-sectional study revealed the persistence of dentists who still discriminate against HIV + patients, and the percentage of these dentists was only slightly lower than that in the previous survey (4.3% in the present survey vs. 4.5%). The survey also depicted other information worthy of consideration, such as a perceived ability to detect HIV + patients based on their appearance, complaints about not having received adequate training for treating HIV + individuals, and a lack of scientific knowledge about the virus. From the evidence reported by the present survey, it can be argued that universities, professional boards, and training institutions must increase their efforts in spreading correct knowledge about HIV among all dental care workers.

Lack of education, knowledge, and supplies are barriers to cryptococcal meningitis care among nurses and other healthcare providers in rural Uganda: A mixed methods study

BackgroundCryptococcal meningitis (CM) is one of the deadliest opportunistic infections related to HIV/AIDS. A research gap exists surrounding the barriers to CM diagnosis, treatment delivery, and care from the healthcare provider's perspective. ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to elucidate provider's behaviors, to identify barriers and facilitators to diagnose and treat CM, and to assess their knowledge of CM, cryptococcal screening, and treatment. Design, setting, and participantsA convergent mixed-methods study among twenty healthcare providers who provided CM patient referrals to Lira Regional Referral Hospital in Lira, Uganda. MethodsSurveys and interviews were conducted to obtain information from healthcare providers who referred CM patients to Lira Regional Referral Hospital from 2017 to 2019. Questions related to provider education, knowledge, barriers to CM care, and patient education were inquired to understand the providers' perspectives. ResultsNurses had the least amount of CM knowledge with half knowing the cause of CM. Approximately half the participants knew about CM transmission, but only 15 % knew the duration of CM maintenance therapy. Most participants (74 %) last had education regarding CM during didactic training. In addition, 25 % disclosed they never educate patients due to time constraints (30 %) and lack of knowledge (30 %). Nurses (75 %) were least likely to provide patient education. Most participants acknowledged their lack of CM knowledge and attributed it to a lack of education and perceived inexperience with CM. ConclusionsProviders' gaps in knowledge due to the lack of education and experience contributes to decreased patient education, and the lack of access to appropriate supplies affects their provision for CM diagnosis, treatment, and care. These results can guide evidence-based interventions to improve health providers' knowledge. Recommendations for standardized CM education should be developed for both providers and patients in collaboration with professional boards and the Uganda Ministry of Health.

Three Ways to Engage Professional Association Board Members During Orientation

The Volunteer Management ReportVolume 28, Issue 7 p. 6-6 Nurturing Your Board Three Ways to Engage Professional Association Board Members During Orientation Erin Sandage, Erin SandageSearch for more papers by this author Erin Sandage, Erin SandageSearch for more papers by this author First published: 06 June 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/vmr.32113Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume28, Issue7July 2023Pages 6-6 RelatedInformation

Starting Points for Promoting Disaster Resilience in Home Nursing Care in Germany–A Participatory Development Process

Introduction:In Germany, more than 3.3 million people in need of long-term care are receiving home care. Although not all of them use professional home care providers, their services are essential especially to those who need skilled nursing care and medical-technical assistance in addition to everyday support–such as approximately 30,000 people who receive home mechanical ventilation. Little is known about the disaster resilience of home care infrastructures and ways to strengthen them. A research consortium called AUPIK, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research from 2020-2023, sought to close this gap.Method:A participatory process was initiated as part of the AUPIK project based on results of a multi-perspective empirical baseline analysis which resulted in a first draft text about measures to promote disaster resilience in home care. 37 representatives of home nursing care providers and community health-care services, professional boards, scientific and education institutions participated in a web-based survey on the draft text, followed by two digital group discussions. Finally, the gradually revised, condensed and consented starting points were published and distributed.Results:Eight starting points were defined. Among others, there is an urgent need to strengthen risk awareness and resource management among home care providers, to promote individual disaster competence and preparedness among all parties involved and, not least, to strengthen community-based networking initiatives between home care providers, emergency and disaster organizations and local authorities. Institutions or persons who should take responsibility for implementation at different levels are addressed directly.Conclusion:The final version of the starting points represents a consensus on urgently needed initiatives to promote disaster resilience in home nursing care in Germany. The participatory development process should support commitment on the part of all stakeholders and thus promote effective implementation of disaster resilience initiatives in home nursing care.

Drone Services, Surveying, and Free Speech: The Dilemma

Professional engineering and surveying registration boards are being challenged to balance the need to protect life, safety, and welfare against the work that has traditionally been conducted by licensed professionals. Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) capabilities have increased dramatically and have disrupted the surveying sector. These systems provide high-resolution images and enable the collection of accurate data. Today, many aerial photography firms utilize UASs to conduct flyovers, capturing images that can be further processed to produce a desired output for their customer. The scope of services varies depending on the customer, who at times requests the identification of their own parcels with metadata, including coordinates derived using Global Navigation Satellite Systems. In addition, by processing the data with appropriate software one can approximate the volume of materials on site, approximate parcel boundaries, and related information such as utilities. The challenge for registration boards is to determine if these tasks, as well as others, are required to be performed by licensed personnel. Over the past several years boards have been challenged in interpreting the tasks requiring licensure. The intent of this article is to present a review of relatively recent cases that have caused consternation among the surveying community. The question to answer is whether professional registration boards can require licensing to perform these and other similar tasks and, at the same time, prevent a company from disseminating its work. One case relies on statutory interpretation whereas the two other cases rely on the right to free speech protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

AI Based Professional Real Time Game Board

Abstract: The project aims to move the pieces on the board automatically according to beat the person in front and thus create an unique experience for a chess player. The strong structure consisting of various parts and sensors along with a fast processing unit. AI brings a completely new dynamic into the game as the machine will improve its game strategies with time opening a completely new prospect in the game. A motor-based system, along with smart magnetic detection provides a low noise and friction product at lower power consumption along with less wear and tear and even more effectively brings the cost of the product down sizably it helps in providing unique features such as hassle free motion of pieces along with unprecedented detection of moves are just some of the features the project aims to cover against the currently available similar products available in today's market. Also an improved size of the board along with aesthetically pleasing pieces is one of the feature the project aims to complete over its other competitors.

Biomedical materials benefit health

Biomedical engineering is acclaimed as the most effective technological advancement—the stepping- stone toward better human health. An in-depth look into biomedical engineering reveals that emerging materials are recognized as the turbocharger for its progress and the source of innovation. For example, the application of advanced nanomaterials in drug delivery, bioimaging, gene therapy, and so on are pioneering new ways to diagnose and treat cancer and other diseases; tissue repair and organ regeneration are no longer dreams, but attainable miracles because of 3D bioprinted scaffold materials; flexible electronic materials and brain-computer interface chips remove barriers in human-computer interaction, enabling scientists to better interpret the mysteries of life. In addition, functional materials construct diverse diagnosis and treatment equipment, such as microfluidics and major medical devices. Evolving from the deep integration of materials science and biomedical engineering, this popular and innovative research field will enormously benefit people's life and health. Upholding the philosophy of “BME Materials Benefit Health,” BMEMat was launched under the auspices of Shandong University and Wiley. With a commitment to building the most valuable international platform to share knowledge and information, BMEMat covers all research advances related to functional materials for biomedical applications. The article types include Original Articles, Review Articles, Editorials, Short Communications, and Letters to the Editor (author guidelines are available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/27517446/homepage/author-guidelines). BMEMat adopts an open-access publishing model and will expand the coverage of Wiley's current materials science journals into biomedical engineering. BMEMat creates an active community by attracting interdisciplinary research in biomedical engineering and materials science. Our professional editorial board comprises the most experienced scientists in the BME field. The Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Hong Liu from State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, is the winner of National Outstanding Youth Fund and is among the world's highly-cited scientists. We have nine Associate Editors on board to assist the Editor-in-Chief to expediate the peer review process: Prof. Xiaogang Liu from the National University of Singapore (Singapore), Prof. Wenbo Bu from Fudan University (China), Prof. Chuanbin Mao from University of Oklahoma (USA), Prof. Fan Yi from Shandong University (China), Prof. Andreu Cabot from Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (Spain), Prof. Xiaohu Gao from University of Washington, Seattle (USA), Prof. Angus Johnston from Monash University (Australia), Prof. Xingjie Liang from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (China), and Prof. Xuebin Yang from University of Leeds (UK). The elite editorial team with their diversity of insights and expertise will provide efficient peer review services and post-acceptance processes to our authors and reviewers, and present our readers with the most important, in-depth, and frontier basic and applied research achievements. We sincerely look forward to welcoming you—as a reader, author, reviewer or commenter—to engage with our journal. We believe that BMEMat will become one of the leading international publishing platforms in the interdisciplinary area of material science, biochemistry, biology, biomedical engineering, and medicine, by providing information on the most important advances in this field to a broader group of researchers and engineers from both academia and industry. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Reinstatement of Previously Deregistered Health Professionals in Australia: Legal Determinations of Risk, Patient Safety, and Public Interest

Each year approximately 60 registered health practitioners in Australia have their registration cancelled for reasons of serious misconduct or, less commonly, impairment or criminal conviction. Cancellation remains in force unless the practitioner successfully brings a later application to be restored to the register. While the decision to deregister takes place in a public tribunal process, with published reasons, throughout most of Australia determinations concerning reinstatement are undertaken by professional Boards in private. This research examines available reinstatement decisions concerning 86 health practitioners to analyse how the health regulatory system in Australia determines questions of public interest and public safety when deciding whether deregistered health practitioners who seek reinstatement are now ‘fit and proper’ to practise their profession again. There is a considerable body of case law on the meaning of fitness to practise for health professionals, and the process by which it can be assessed. However, there is remarkably little legislative content or administrative guidance to structure the reinstatement inquiry, assist applicants in the process or to ensure consistency of decision-making, in particular by drawing attention to broader public protection factors. Reinstatement determinations would be improved through the introduction of structured guidance on how to apply the paramount objective of public protection. The article also suggests that having all reinstatement determinations take place in public with published reasons would improve public understanding of, and confidence in, the reinstatement process.

Editorial introductions.

Editorial introductions.

Representation of Gender and Postgraduate Experience Among Professional Medical Society Boards in Japan

This cross-sectional study investigates the gender ratio and postgraduate years of experience of Japanese professional medical society boards of directors.

Straight Teeth and Misaligned Interests: Courtrooms Are Crowded with SmileDirectClub Litigation

SmileDirectClub markets, manufactures, and delivers clear plastic dental aligners directly to the consumer: no dental office necessary. This well-known business strategy-cut costs by cutting out the middleman-has in several instances caught the attention of state dental regulators. While the dental boards consider some of SmileDirectClub's practices to be violative of state dental practice law, the corporation has fought back in federal court, charging dental regulators with antitrust violations and with denying SmileDirectClub its constitutional rights.The Supreme Court, as noted by SmileDirectClub, has insisted that a self-regulating state professional board is not itself the state, so a board's actions might be subject to federal antitrust law. In the SmileDirectClub cases, however, state regulators have acted as required by state legislatures and as expressed in state dental practice acts. The boards' activities here are therefore cloaked in the states' immunity to antitrust litigation and should be treated deferentially by federal courts. Furthermore, judicial review of the substance of every regulation to which SmileDirectClub objects is inappropriate under principles of constitutional law. In the interest of public safety, courts should permit state dental regulators to fulfill their mandates and ensure that all dental providers comply with state health regulations.

Governance in Estonian Agricultural Cooperatives: Structures and Processes

Little is known about the board structures and processes adopted by agricultural cooperatives, particularly in Eastern European countries. We address this substantial knowledge gap by focusing on Estonian agricultural cooperatives. Using survey results from a sample of 23 Estonian agricultural cooperatives, we identify board structures and processes, measure organizational health, and compare our findings to similar studies in other countries. We find both similarities and differences between sample cooperatives and their counterparts in other countries. Estonian agricultural cooperatives tend to perform better than those without a board. However, more research at the member level is needed in order to draw definite conclusions. Member preference heterogeneity emerges as a potential future threat to organizational health and, thus, demands the attention of cooperative leaders in Estonia. We conclude that there exists considerable room for improvement through the introduction of a more flexible legal framework and the adoption of professional board governance processes, which includes director orientation training, inclusion of additional financial expertise and board evaluation routines.

Disciplinary proceedings against healthcare practitioners facing criminal charges: The role of the Health Professions Council of South Africa


 
 
 
 The purpose of this article is to address the questions as to whether a criminal conviction of a healthcare practitioner should affect his or her professional standing, and whether such conviction constitutes ‘unprofessional conduct’ in terms of the Health Professions Act. The article also explores a related matter, namely whether the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has a legal duty to refer complaints regarding unprofessional conduct that displays criminal elements for criminal prosecution. After considering relevant case law on these issues, the article concludes that a practitioner, after being convicted of an offence, should be afforded an opportunity to explain him- or herself to the board, not only in extenuation of the conduct in question, but also in response to the question of whether the conduct constitutes improper or disgraceful conduct. Moreover, the article explains why the HPCSA and professional boards have a legal duty to refer matters of unprofessional conduct with criminal elements in terms of section 34 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act to law enforcement agencies.