Sturt Rodney, Burge Angela T, Harding Paula, Sayer James
Alfred Health, The Alfred, 55 Commercial Road, Melbourne, Vic. 3004, Australia. Email:.
Aust Health Rev. 2018 Aug;42(4):461-468. doi: 10.1071/AH16148.
Objectives Workplace-based competency is increasingly considered fundamental to patient safety and quality healthcare. The aim of the present study was to identify and describe physiotherapists' perceptions of workplace competency. Methods The present study was a mixed-methods cross-sectional observational study. Thematic and descriptive analysis of qualitative and survey data were undertaken. Forty-six physiotherapists employed at a metropolitan acute public hospital participated in interviews or focus groups; a subgroup of 31 participants also completed an online survey. Results Five main themes were identified: (1) despite the availability of workplace learning opportunities and supports, less-experienced staff reported limited confidence; (2) assessment and feedback around workplace competency was limited, predominantly informal and unstructured, with less than half of the cohort (42%) agreeing feedback received was useful for improving their workplace skills; (3) practicing within individual scope is an important aspect of workplace competency as a physiotherapist; (4) most (81%) agreed it was important for them to self-determine their learning and development goals, and they relied primarily on informal discussion to achieve these goals; and, (5) physiotherapists felt motivated regarding workplace learning, with 97% interested in developing their workplace skills however, nearly half (45%) did not feel they had sufficient time to do so. Conclusions The perceptions of physiotherapists working in a metropolitan acute public hospital are reflected in five themes. These themes elucidate how workplace competency is supported, maintained and developed among physiotherapists in this setting. These themes also highlight key challenges of workplace learning faced by this cohort of physiotherapists and allude to methods that may assist with improving feedback mechanisms and knowledge acquisition. What is known about this topic? Studies investigating employee perceptions around workplace competency, knowledge, skills and learning are found across a range of industries. Workplace-based competency is increasingly considered fundamental to patient safety and quality health care. There is little known about physiotherapists' perceptions of workplace competency. What does this paper add? This study has identified and described themes around physiotherapists' perceptions of their workplace knowledge and skills. What are the implications for practitioners? The themes identified provide support for the development, implementation and evaluation of a workplace-based competency framework for physiotherapists.
目标 基于工作场所的能力日益被视为患者安全和高质量医疗保健的基础。本研究的目的是识别和描述物理治疗师对工作场所能力的看法。方法 本研究是一项混合方法的横断面观察性研究。对定性和调查数据进行了主题分析和描述性分析。一家大都市急症公立医院雇佣的46名物理治疗师参与了访谈或焦点小组；31名参与者组成的一个子群体还完成了一项在线调查。结果 确定了五个主要主题：（1）尽管有工作场所学习机会和支持，但经验不足的员工表示信心有限；（2）围绕工作场所能力的评估和反馈有限，主要是非正式和无组织的，不到一半的队列成员（42%）认为收到的反馈对提高他们的工作场所技能有用；（3）在个人范围内执业是物理治疗师工作场所能力的一个重要方面；（4）大多数人（81%）认为自行确定学习和发展目标对他们很重要，他们主要依靠非正式讨论来实现这些目标；以及，（5）物理治疗师对工作场所学习有积极性，97%的人有兴趣提高他们的工作场所技能，然而，近一半（45%）的人觉得他们没有足够的时间这样做。结论 在一家大都市急症公立医院工作的物理治疗师的看法体现在五个主题中。这些主题阐明了在这种环境下物理治疗师的工作场所能力是如何得到支持、维持和发展的。这些主题还突出了这组物理治疗师面临的工作场所学习的关键挑战，并暗示了可能有助于改善反馈机制和知识获取的方法。关于这个主题已知的情况是什么？调查员工对工作场所能力、知识、技能和学习看法的研究在一系列行业中都有。基于工作场所的能力日益被视为患者安全和高质量医疗保健的基础。关于物理治疗师对工作场所能力的看法知之甚少。本文补充了什么？本研究确定并描述了围绕物理治疗师对其工作场所知识和技能看法的主题。对从业者有什么影响？所确定的主题为物理治疗师基于工作场所的能力框架的制定、实施和评估提供了支持。
