Professionalism : Being A Professional

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, professionalism is defined as the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. A few pages to the left, efficient is defined as productive of desired effects, especially productive without waste, an efficient worker. A few more pages to the left, cordial is defined as showing or marked by warm and often hearty friendliness, favor, or approval, a cordial welcome.

The textbook describes the characteristics of professionalism to be accuracy, courteousness and respectfulness, dependability, flexibility, commitment to lifelong learning, tactfulness accountability, positive attitude, and a professional appearance. In the following paragraphs I will describe five characteristics that I find important in professionalism.

The term professional, like many words and concepts has many different dimensions and the meaning of which has changed over time. One definition might be getting paid to complete a specific set of specialised tasks. Another might be an uncompromising commitment to performing at the highest level at all times. Yet another could be displaying a polite, considerate and generally businesslike manner in the workplace. Whilst most of these statements are partially correct, there are many aspects to conducting yourself in a professional manner. The most recognised

When being professional you aim to give the best you can and that means to commit beyond your own expectations, by looking into the long term and seeing what could go wrong, and make sure different approaches are in place to prevent these. Being professional will always be advantageous and will create a positive repute for either yourself or the business you are supporting. Sometimes your professional behaviour can have an impact on your own work, eg, promotions. It will also increase pride. Therefore professionalism is an all-round beneficial factor.

According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (2017), professionalism is “the skill, good judgment, and polite behavior that is expected to do a job well.” Medical professionals must possess occupational competence, ethical excellence, and exemplary patient relations. Occupational competence encompasses more than just job knowledge. While being technically competent to perform all necessary job functions is vital, a commitment to continually improve is essential. With the rate of technological advancements in the medical profession, continued education is required to stay abreast of changes. Self-reflection is also important to know when and where personal improvement is needed. High ethical standards, including honesty, integrity, accountability,

What does Professionalism mean to me? Professionalism in my term means it is someone who is very dedicated to their profession. It is an important and great decision to follow by the rules and ethics of professionalism. If we did not have anyone that cared about their profession it would cause a lot of problems in our society today. It could cause a lot of disruption in your workplace. In order to abide by professionalism you must take pride in your job, percieve realistic goals and values, and know what your expectations are.

A professional is characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace. Being professional should be a subconscious effort in the fact that it should always be applied. When employees are professional it helps the system run more efficiently and safely. A person must me a certain criteria when being evaluated on professionalism, a person is judged based on the clients; Attitude, Values, Communication techniques, and approachability. Clients who display a committed, dependable attitude will benefit more from work exerted, and overall be rewarded with incentives. Although professionalism may be in the eye of the

Avis et al (2010) state that historically, only occupations such as Doctors, Solicitors, the Clergy and Bank Managers were worthy of the title of being called a “Professional”. However they go on to say that this has changed over time to the point whereby much more diverse groups are describing themselves within the category of being professional to the point that the term becomes meaningless. That said, they do agree that a professional should hold a set of specific skills and knowledge that are gained through a certain amount of training and “should be used for the benefit of society”. Teachers, lecturers and trainers clearly fit within this remit. Scales (2008) lists professionalism as one of the traits of an effective teacher. He goes on the say that professionalism is multi-faceted, citing the way teachers behave, look, the way interact with their students, how they talk and how they prepare and plan their work all form what he believes makes a professional.

Professionalism in the workplace, is the absolute key to having a successful, and smoothly run business. Professionalism is something that must be maintained by every individual within the work setting, especially in health care, whether it is the janitor, activity director, nursing assistant, doctor, or even the head administrator. Professionalism encompasses many aspects, such as teamwork, attitude, environment, knowledge, morals, and ethics.

Everywhere you go and in everything you do, professionalism comes in to account in some way or another. Professionalism has been defined as, “a strict adherence to courtesy, honesty and responsibility when dealing with individuals or other companies in the business environment” (Clarke, 2015). When it comes to the career of nursing, professionalism is taken to a whole other level. Not only does professionalism come in to account with your business professionals and peers, but you have patients with whom professionalism is highly practiced as well. Professionalism in nursing means that you are able to handle all the responsibilities given to you in an efficient and proper way. It means that when you are given an order that needs to be carried out by a doctor or a patient who needs your help, you adhere to what is being expected of you in a timely manner. Physicians put trust into nurses in order to carry out orders that are needed to save patients’ lives. If you’re not looked at as professional and responsible, it is going to be very hard to have a successful career. Responsibility is what nursing is all about. Professionalism in nursing means that along with taking on big responsibilities, you have discipline. Discipline in nursing is crucial to being successful. Not only to keep your patients safe, but so that you personally are on the ball and looked at by others as professional, therefore, making you a great nurse. Professionalism means that you have the

The thought of professionalism conjures up many ideas, and possibly pre-conceived judgements. These will not always be classed as positive or negative, but will undoubtedly have a profound effect on the way you are perceived in your area of work or chosen profession.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines professionalism as the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. Yet the White Paper on Pharmacy Student Professionalism says it is displaying values, beliefs and attitudes that put the needs of another about your personal needs. There is still another definition. The Medical Professionalism Project says professionalism is the basis of medicine's contract with society. It demands placing the interests of patients above those of the physician, setting and maintaining standards of competence and integrity, and providing expert advice to society on matters of health. In my opinion, a person's attitude, values, and behaviors

Everyone has a certain skill that they may be strong or weak at in both school or in work. There are skills required in order to create an efficient working environment. However, every person generally has a flaw or a skill that they are efficient in, which may reflect their career readiness. Despite everyone's flaw, throughout our life, we can be able to improve through experience. As for myself, I consider myself confident in managing multiple task and valuing work, but I need to improve my communication skills.

Professionalism can be defined as “the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person.”(Merriam-webster) My interpretation of this definition is that professionalism is a standard that we must hold ourselves accountable to in order to provide the best service. How do we get from a basic understanding of this definition, to practicing and applying professionalism? Major attributes that lead to professionalism can include accountability, communication and reflective practice. Reflective practice in the healthcare system is when “practitioners engage in a continuous cycle of self-observation and self evaluation in order to understand their own actions and the reactions they prompt in themselves” (becoming a better university teacher…). In the day-to-day life, everyone performs a type of reflection whether it is by unconscious thought or by habit. When it is unintentional it is hard to learn and grow from the knowledge that can potentially be gained. Therefore we need to find a way to effectively incorporate reflective practice into our daily lives, especially as radiation therapy students.

When we hear someone use the word professionalism, usually it is used to describe one’s conduct on the job. So, what does it mean to be a professional?