Credentialing the infection control practitioner

The following proposal is submitted by the AICA's credentialling and certification subcommittee for your consideration. It outlines a process and procedure for interim credentialling of infection control practitioners. In submitting this proposal, the subcommittee acknowledges that, while competency-based education is the preferred process for credentialling, there are clinicians who, in the absence of educational opportunities, have developed a specialist level of competency in infection control practice through self education and experience. Committee members also recognise the need for self-regulation of accrediting processes, to maintain standards in practice and support members in their clinical roles. We ask you to review the following proposal and invite your comments and critique, to be received by the last week in January 1998.

Infection control standards and credentialing

Infection control professionals (ICPs) play an integral part of developing, implementing, and evaluating infection control programs. In Australia, there is no minimum or standardized education to practice as an ICP. The Australasian College of Infection Prevention and Control, the professional body for ICPs in Australasia, sought to address the issue by developing a credentialing process.1, 2 and 3 This decision was made in recognition that self-regulation is one of the hallmarks of professionalism.4 The process of becoming credentialed as an ICP in Australia involves the submission of evidence against a range of criteria with a subsequent peer-review process...

Credentialing of Australian and New Zealand infection control professionals: An exploratory study

Background Despite evidence from overseas that certification and credentialing of infection control professionals (ICPs) is important to patient outcomes, there are no standardized requirements for the education and preparation of ICPs in Australia. A credentialing process (now managed by the Australasian College of Infection Prevention and Control) has been in existence since 2000; however, no evaluation has occurred. Methods A cross-sectional study design was used to identify the perceived barriers to credentialing and the characteristics of credentialed ICPs. Results There were 300 responses received; 45 (15%) of participants were credentialed. Noncredentialed ICPs identified barriers to credentialing as no employer requirement and no associated remuneration. Generally credentialed ICPs were more likely to hold higher degrees and have more infection control experience than their noncredentialed colleagues. Conclusions The credentialing process itself may assist in supporting ICP development by providing an opportunity for reflection and feedback from peer review. Further, the process may assist ICPs in being flexible and adaptable to the challenging and ever-changing environment that is infection control.

Credentialing for radiology

Patients expect to receive safe, predictable and high-quality care delivered by competent professionals. Thus, it has become important to provide specific training in existing and new modalities and prove on-going clinical expertise. Hospital credentialing is the process by which the competence of a doctor is determined by the hospital management. In Australia, radiologists participate in a mandatory program of continuing professional development and are also required to maintain a logbook of procedures. The Conjoint Committee for the Recognition of Training in Peripheral Endovascular Therapy has been established to advise the respective subspecialty groups on the requirements for accreditation. This article examines some of the issues the committee has considered in preparing the criteria to assist institutions for the purposes of credentialing and gives an Australian perspective on future trends.

IMRT credentialing for prospective trials using institutional virtual phantoms: results of a joint European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer and Radiological Physics Center project.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) credentialing for a EORTC study was performed using an anthropomorphic head phantom from the Radiological Physics Center (RPC; RPC(PH)). Institutions were retrospectively requested to irradiate their institutional phantom (INST(PH)) using the same treatment plan in the framework of a Virtual Phantom Project (VPP) for IMRT credentialing. MATERIALS AND METHODS CT data set of the institutional phantom and measured 2D dose matrices were requested from centers and sent to a dedicated secure EORTC uploader. Data from the RPC(PH) and INST(PH) were thereafter centrally analyzed and inter-compared by the QA team using commercially available software (RIT; ver.5.2; Colorado Springs, USA). RESULTS Eighteen institutions participated to the VPP. The measurements of 6 (33%) institutions could not be analyzed centrally. All other centers passed both the VPP and the RPC ±7%/4 mm credentialing criteria. At the 5%/5 mm gamma criteria (90% of pixels passing), 11(92%) as compared to 12 (100%) centers pass the credentialing process with RPC(PH) and INST(PH) (p = 0.29), respectively. The corresponding pass rate for the 3%/3 mm gamma criteria (90% of pixels passing) was 2 (17%) and 9 (75%; p = 0.01), respectively. CONCLUSIONS IMRT dosimetry gamma evaluations in a single plane for a H&N prospective trial using the INST(PH) measurements showed agreement at the gamma index criteria of ±5%/5 mm (90% of pixels passing) for a small number of VPP measurements. Using more stringent, criteria, the RPC(PH) and INST(PH) comparison showed disagreement. More data is warranted and urgently required within the framework of prospective studies.

CVISN electronic credentialing for commercial vehicles in Washington state : a case study : easier licensing and credentials processing for the motor carrier industry.

"EDL# 13980"--P. [4] of cover.

The credentialing of counselling in Australia

Counselling is an unregulated activity in Australia. No statutory regulation currently exists. As a result, different counselling organizations are promoting different voluntary standards for the practice of counselling. This has led to a credentialing dilemma in which counsellors and the public are confronted with a number of counselling qualification choices. This dilemma poses a number of questions: Should counselling become more regulated in Australia? At what level should counselling be regulated? Should there be various levels of counsellor regulation? This article provides an overview of the credentialing dilemma facing counselling in Australia, compares and contrasts two main Australian accreditation efforts, and proposes cooperation as a way of navigating said dilemma. The implications for counselling as a profession are discussed along with suggestions for its development as a profession. This includes a discussion regarding the relative advantages and disadvantages of greater regulation of counselling as a professional activity in Australia. Specifically, what is and is not generally considered a profession is reviewed, different forms of credentialing are outlined, and general arguments for and against accreditation efforts are presented. The efforts of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) and the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) are compared and are shown to have common ground. Consequently, ways in which the main counselling organizations may best work in conjunction to promote counselling as a profession in Australia are proposed. These suggestions include good communication, collaboration, and the avoidance of turf wars. Specifically, that the ACA and PACFA collaborate on developing a combined independent registration list that is supported by both organizations or, minimally, that both organizations have mutual recognition on each other's register lists.

Facing a paradigm shift in professional credentialing: Preparedness of registered dietitians for Professional Development 2001

In the year 2001, the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) will begin a new process of recertifying Registered Dietitians (RD) using a self-directed lifelong learning portfolio model. The model, entitled Professional Development 2001 (PD 2001), is designed to increase competency through targeted learning. This portfolio consists of five steps: reflection, learning needs assessment, formulation of a learning plan, maintenance of a learning log, and evaluation of the learning plan. By targeting learning, PD 2001 is predicted to foster more up-to-date practitioners than the current method that requires only a quantity of continuing education hours. This is the first major change in the credentialing system since 1975. The success or failure of the new system will impact the future of approximately 60,000 practitioners. The purpose of this study was to determine the readiness of RDs to change to the new system. Since the model is dependent on setting goals and developing learning plans, this study examined the methods dietitians use to determine their five-year goals and direction in practice. It also determined RD's attitudes towards PD 2001 and identified some of the factors that influenced their beliefs. A dual methodological design using focus groups and questionnaires was utilized. Sixteen focus groups were held during state dietetic association meetings. Demographic data was collected on the 132 registered dietitians who participated in the focus groups using a self-administered questionnaire. The audiotaped sessions were transcribed into 643 pages of text and analyzed using Non-numerical Unstructured Data - Indexing Searching and Theorizing (NUD*IST version 4). Thirty-four of the 132 participants (26%) had formal five-year goals. Fifty-four participants (41%) performed annual self-assessments. In general, dietitians did not currently have professional goals nor conduct self-assessments and they claimed they did not have the skills or confidence to perform these tasks. Major barriers to successful implementation of PD 2001 are uncertainty, misinterpretation, and misinformation about the process and purpose, which in turn contribute to negative impressions. Renewed vigor to provide a positive, accurate message along with presenting goal-setting strategies will be necessary for better acceptance of this professional development process. ^

Digital credentialing: does it offer a meaningful response to initial teacher education reform?

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight key features of the disruptive technological innovation identified as digital credentialing and also known as digital badging or Open Badges. The chapter discusses the current policy reform landscape in Australia for the initial teacher education (1TB) context and then offers the possibility of how digital credentialing may create opportunities to meaningfully address policy recommendations, particularly in relation to the concepts of graduates being 'classroom ready'. While not an extensive review of the literature about digital credentialing, the chapter discusses the disruptive innovation and emerging understandings and design frameworks that can support new ways of approaching initial teacher education.

Occupational health nurses’ roles, credentials, and continuing education in Ontario, Canada

The role of the occupational health nurse is broad and includes health care provider, manager/coordinator, educator/advisor, and case manager and consultant, depending on the type of industry and the country in which the nurse practices. Regardless of the type of role, the occupational health nurse must participate in continuing nursing education (CNE) activities. This study describes the roles, credentials, and number of CNE activities undertaken by occupational health nurses working in Ontario, Canada. Using a non-experimental descriptive design, a questionnaire was mailed to all practicing occupational health nurses who are members (n = 900) of a local nursing association. Three hundred fifty-four questionnaires were returned. Nurses reported a variety of roles in the following categories: case management, health promotion, policy development, infection control/travel health, ergonomics, education, research, health and safety, direct care, consultation, disaster preparedness, and industrial hygiene. Sixty-five percent of nurses held an occupational health nurse credential, and 19% of nurses attended more than 100 hours of CNE annually. Occupational health nurses have multiple workplace roles. Many attend CNE activities and they often prepare for credentialing.

Designing online assessment tools for disengaged youth

This article reports on the development of online assessment tools for disengaged youth in flexible learning environments. Sociocultural theories of learning and assessment and Bourdieu’s sociological concepts of capital and exchange were used to design a purpose-built content management system. This design experiment engaged participants in assessment that led to the exchange of self, peer and teacher judgements for credentialing. This collaborative approach required students and teachers to adapt and amend social networking practices for students to submit and judge their own and others’ work using comments, ratings, keywords and tags. Students and teachers refined their evaluative expertise across contexts, and negotiated meanings and values of digital works, which gave rise to revised versions and emergent assessment criteria. By combining social networking tools with sociological models of capital, assessment activities related to students’ digital productions were understood as valuations and judgements within an emergent, negotiable social field of exchange.

The competent prescriber: 12 core competencies for safe prescribing

Prescribing errors remain a significant cause of patient harm. Safe prescribing is not just about writing a prescription, but involves many cognitive and decision-making steps. A set of national prescribing competencies for all prescribers (including non-medical) is needed to guide education and training curricula, assessment and credentialing of individual practitioners. We have identified 12 core competencies for safe prescribing which embody the four stages of the prescribing process – information gathering, clinical decision making, communication, and monitoring and review. These core competencies, along with their learning objectives and assessment methods, provide a useful starting point for teaching safe and effective prescribing.

Ethics in project management : some Aristotelian insights

Purpose My aim is to introduce, in the project management field, an Aristotelian ethics lens moving beyond the classical deontological and consequentialism approaches underlying the current ethical practices and codes of ethics and professional conducts. In doing so, I wish to pose the premises of a debate on the implications of a conscious ethical perspective for the structure and agency relationship within the project management field Design/methodology/approach Project management is a knowledge field on its own right. However the current perspectives applied to make sense and develop the field (modernism vs. postmodernism) leads to dichotomous thinking rather than recognizing the merits and contextual validity of both sides. I call for Aristotelian Ethics as a way of moving beyond this dichotomous thinking. I introduce briefly Aristotelian Ethics and its consequences in term of relation theory – practice, means and ends, facts and values, and finally politics (i.e. being part of a community of practitioners). Then I illustrate some consequences for the field taking PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and APM Code of Professional Conduct as supports for discussion Findings I suggest a need for revisiting and/or redesigning the codes of ethics and professional conducts for project management according to an Aristotelian perspective, in order to move beyond the normative limitations of classical deontological (conflict between competing duties, exemplified by PMI Code) or consequentialism (focusing on the "right" outcome to the detriment of duties, exemplified by APM Code) approaches (both, in fact, leading to a disconnection means and ends, and facts and values). This implicates shifting our view from the question "what is my duty?" to the questions "why should I undertake my duty?" and "how ought I act in this situation?" Practical implications Raising Professional Bodies, Industry and Education institutions awareness and consciousness and leading them to rethink about codes of ethics and the implications for the way they conceive practice and research, bodies of knowledge, credentialing, education... Originality/value To the best of my knowledge, this kind of discussion has not yet been conducted within the project management field, and considering the implication of project management in our life and for the well being of the society, an ethical debate may present some value(s)

The automation of radiotherapy treatment planning assessment

Aim The assessment of treatment plans is an important component in the education of radiation therapists. The establishment of a grade for a plan is currently based on subjective assessment of a range of criteria. The automation of assessment could provide a number of advantages including faster feedback, reduced chance of human error, and simpler aggregation of past results. Method A collection of treatments planned by a cohort of 27 second year radiation therapy students were selected for quantitative evaluation. Treatment sites included the bladder, cervix, larynx, parotid and prostate, although only the larynx plans had been assessed in detail. The plans were designed with the Pinnacle system and exported using the DICOM framework. Assessment criteria included beam arrangement optimisation, volume contouring, target dose coverage and homogeneity, and organ-at-risk sparing. The in-house Treatment and Dose Assessor (TADA) software1 was evaluated for suitability in assisting with the quantitative assessment of these plans. Dose volume data were exported in per-student and per-structure data tables, along with beam complexity metrics, dose volume histograms, and reports on naming conventions. Results The treatment plans were exported and processed using TADA, with the processing of all 27 plans for each treatment site taking less than two minutes. Naming conventions were successfully checked against a reference protocol. Significant variations between student plans were found. Correlation with assessment feedback was established for the larynx plans. Conclusion The data generated could be used to inform the selection of future assessment criteria, monitor student development, and provide useful feedback to the students. The provision of objective, quantitative evaluations of plan quality would be a valuable addition to not only radiotherapy education programmes but also for staff development and potentially credentialing methods. New functionality within TADA developed for this work could be applied clinically to, for example, evaluate protocol compliance.

The Australian practice pharmacist

Background: Evolution in Australian community pharmacy and general practice environments has seen the emergence of a new opportunity for pharmacist practice, distinct from the conventional community and hospital settings, in which the pharmacist is integrated into the general practice setting to provide professional services. Aim: To characterise pharmacists practising in the Australian general practice setting. Method: An electronic questionnaire. Results: Twenty-six practice pharmacists completed the questionnaire. Practice pharmacists were more likely to be female, aged between 30 and 49 years, have postgraduate qualifications and also work in other pharmacy sectors. The general practice settings more frequently had multiple general practitioners and also housed multiple allied health professionals. The most commonly conducted services provided by the practice pharmacists were Home Medicine Reviews, responding to clinical enquiries from general practitioners and responding to enquiries from other health professionals. Most practice pharmacists worked as independent contractors for services provided. The practice pharmacists provided some services in the absence of remuneration. The majority of practice pharmacists agreed or strongly agreed that a set of competencies should be developed and a credentialing process required with experience of the pharmacist being regarded highly. Conclusion: The results of this study have described the variety of professional roles, remuneration and characteristics in a small sample of pharmacists practising in a general practice setting in Australia. For this model of pharmacist practice to expand an appropriate method of remuneration is required.