RESPIRATORY THERAPY :: Development of Professionalism
In accordance with the goals and
standards of the Victor Valley College Respiratory Therapy Program, it is our
purpose to foster the development of professional health care providers. The following are a few important
components of professionalism that all students and faculty are expected to
adhere to and demonstrate:
Altruism: the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion
to the welfare of others. The purpose of this program is to graduate students
into the field of health care who possess a primary concern for their patients,
fellow colleagues, and the community as a whole.
Skills and knowledge: The purpose of this program is to graduate
students into the field of health care who possess the knowledge and skills to
be effective patient advocates. Dr. Sepuya, the program medical director,
directly stated in an advisory meeting that each patient is the responsibility
of every health care provider working with that patient. Patient care is a team
effort and is not the sole responsibility of the physician. The physician’s
rely heavily on the health care providers that are at the bedside with the
patient.
Respect: The purpose of this program is to graduate students who respect
themselves and others at all times. To
respect someone is to appreciate their attributes and to avoid statements or
discussions of negative connotation.
Honor: honesty, fairness, a source of credit or distinction. It is the
purpose of the program to graduate students who demonstrate honor and
credibility.
Integrity: adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral
character; honesty. It is the purpose of this program to graduate students who
demonstrate integrity at all levels.
Excellence and Scholarship: It is the purpose of this program to
graduate students who strive toward excellence for the common good and continue
to improve on the knowledge and practices available. It is the purpose of this
program to graduate students that continue to ask questions, to improve current
understanding and practice, and to participate in the development of the
profession.
Caring, compassion, and communication: It is the purpose of this program
to graduate students who demonstrate an intrinsic compassion toward their
patients, community, and colleagues and who communicate effectively accurately,
and honestly.
Leadership: It is the purpose of this program to graduate students who
demonstrate leadership within their community, profession and personal life.
Influence by example is a key component of leadership. Note: You do not have to
be in a leadership position to be a leader that influences social change.
Responsibility and accountability (emotional maturity): It is the
purpose of the program to graduate students who take responsibility for their
own actions, scholastic endeavors and behavior and who hold themselves
accountable for such.
Level One Maturity -Basic Emotional Responsibility- When a
person reaches level one of emotional maturity, they realize that they can no longer view their emotional states as the
responsibility of external forces such as people, places, things, forces, fate,
and spirits. They learn to drop expressions from their speech that show
disownership of feelings and a helpless or victim attitude towards their
feelings. (FitzMaurice,
K. 2002)
Level Two Maturity -Emotional Honesty- Emotional honesty
concerns the willingness of the person to know and own their own feelings. This is a necessary step to self-understanding
and acceptance. The issues of resistance to self-discovery are dealt with at
this level. They are related solely to the person's conscious and unconscious
fears of dealing directly with the critical voices they hear inside. In the
past, they have typically lost all interactions with this internal adversary,
so their fears are justified. Now, however, they know how to choose to feel so that they can keep
from being destroyed, or they can choose not to interact with their accuser at
all. The realization of the old maxim, "To thine own self be true,"
is the primary goal at this level. (FitzMaurice, K. 2002)