Professionalism in healthcare: Time to renew commitment

Abstract

This paper re-examined professional behavior because of its prominent significance to healthcare safety and outcomes. The authors sought to better understand what factors contribute to what is seemingly an erosion of professional behavior within the modern healthcare environment. To date, publications focus on educational and institutional factors, applied locally to organizational and academic programs to teach, mentor professionalism and remediate misbehavior. The literature was studied to inform educators and practitioners alike of what may be unexplored drivers to witnessed unprofessional behaviors and to validate our current experience. First, a brief overview of the contemporary history and the classical tenets of professionalism were undertaken and then a three-pronged approach investigated potential influences that might affect professional behavior: (1) the effects of popular culture using social media as a proxy; (2) a review of academic education and training through the formal and informal curricula; and (3) the commodification of healthcare as a proxy for secular change. There were no discoveries that compared studies to evaluate the direct effects of popular culture and secular change on professional behaviors over time, since secular forces evolve, and societal variables don’t remain constant. However, findings indicated that while proper behavior declarations abound through professional organizations and academic curricula, professionalism wanes in the current health care environment. We assert that the external drivers within our respective secular societies be considered with more significant emphasis to weigh the root causes of unprofessional behavior to recognize and respond to these forces. Given the covenant to uphold professional values to promote patient safety and ethical dispositions, we call for the renewal of professionalism with the requisite industry, academic and secular insight to succeed.