Speak Out October 2017

Ethics news

“Professional supervision fosters reflective practice, encouraging clinicians to think about and evaluate what they do as practitioners.”

Supervision How to demonstrate professional values

undertake problem-solving and to work through concerns with a view to ensuring consistency and integrity. Professionalism One of the objectives of supervision is to provide accountability within professional behaviour. Professionalism is a foundation for appropriate service provision and workplace interactions and can be guided and supported by a supervisor. Respect and care Similarly, through discussions with a supervisor, demonstration of the values of respect and care towards clients and colleagues can be confirmed. Quality standards and continuing competence The Code of Ethics requires speech pathologists to maintain professional competence and continue to improve and update knowledge and skills. The Competency Based Occupational Standards (CBOS 2011) also require speech pathologists to demonstrate “lifelong learning and reflective practice”. A key aim of supervision is to ensure the person being supervised has the competence to undertake their work role, and is receiving adequate and appropriate training and support to meet the needs of the client. Professional supervision fosters reflective practice, encouraging clinicians to think about and evaluate what they do as practitioners. By engaging in supervision, we can display the professional values we aspire to. During supervision the above values may be discussed explicitly. However, even if they are not, behaviours and professional practices are shaped and developed through the process of supervision and the resulting professional behaviour is assured to be consistent with these values. It is through our actions that we demonstrate commitment to the values of the profession. Engaging in supervision is one way we can demonstrate all the values described in our Code of Ethics. If you would like to know more about supervision you can visit the

THE VALUES WHICH underpin speech pathology professional practice support us to demonstrate professional, that is, ethical, behaviour and are displayed through our actions and choices. There are many professional obligations, interests and responsibilities requiring our time and attention, even before we consider the personal activities we undertake. This may restrict the time we allocate for reflection on our actions. However, if we take the time to consider the values that underpin the delivery of our professional services, we can have confidence that the decisions we make and the services we provide will reflect our commitment to the highest standards of care and benefit our clients. One method to reflect on how we demonstrate professional values is to identify an area of practice and explore how our actions in that area confirms our commitment to uphold those values. An example is the provision of professional supervision. The role and importance of supervision is stated explicitly in the SPA Code of Ethics (2010) in the following sections: 3.3.3 Professional Competence We maintain our capacity and competence to practise. In particular we: ...continually update and extend our professional knowledge and skills through activities such as… engaging the support of a mentor or supervisor 3.3.4 Supervision We provide appropriate supervision. We accept responsibility for clinical and support staff, students and volunteers who are assigned to us. We demonstrate and discuss ethical practice with those we supervise to facilitate their ethical reasoning skills. 3.4.2 Our Staff If we manage, supervise or employ staff we: ... give them regular supervision, feedback, and access to continuing education and mentoring. Whether currently engaged in a supervisory relationship or not, it is valuable to reflect on how participating in supervision would demonstrate adherence to the four values described in the Code of Ethics in a practical way. Integrity We are accountable for our professional actions and decisions, and demonstrate a willingness to have our practice appraised and developed. Supervision provides us with a forum to raise issues,

Supervision page on the SPA website > Supervision From time to time the Ethics Board seeks experienced

supervisors to provide paid supervision to members who have breached the Code of Ethics and require supervision to rectify the issue with their practice. If you are interested and have appropriate experience, please contact Trish Johnson at National Office or provide an expression of interest with a copy of your CV.

Trish Johnson Senior Advisor, Ethics and Professional Issues Meredith Prain Professional Support Advisor

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October 2017 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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