Belief in the value of CPD

11.2 Belief in the value of CPD

The sonographers who took part in this study were, in the main, in favour of CPD. Most responding sonographers also believed that it was necessary for CPD to remain mandatory, which was an interesting finding considering that over eighty per cent of respondents believed that they would participate in CPD without it being mandatory. This appears to indicate a level of mistrust or misunderstanding with their peers. It is likely that this apparent mistrust or misunderstanding also occurs in other professions besides sonographers, as similar findings were found in the study by Friedman and Phillips (2004). In addition, one of the disadvantages of an inputs only based CPD system is the possibility of an impression that CPD may be underused and not taken seriously (Friedman and Woodward, 2008). Nevertheless, CPD was considered by many sonographers to be very important for maintenance of knowledge and encouragement of learning. Sonographers participating in the survey wrote of CPD encouraging sonographers to maintain interest in their jobs and of CPD encouraging sonographers to keep up with their ongoing education. One commentator felt that it was likely to standardise and improve sonography across Australia.

Professionalism and the need to appear professional came to the fore in many of the comments, with some feeling that not only was CPD necessary to keep up with developments but also to achieve recognition with the general public and also other health professionals. This was in keeping with the opinion of Cervero (2000), who believed that professionalism was one of the main drivers for CPD. Tobias (2003) also was of the belief that one of the characteristics of a professional was to complete ongoing education. Other survey respondents, however, thought the Professionalism and the need to appear professional came to the fore in many of the comments, with some feeling that not only was CPD necessary to keep up with developments but also to achieve recognition with the general public and also other health professionals. This was in keeping with the opinion of Cervero (2000), who believed that professionalism was one of the main drivers for CPD. Tobias (2003) also was of the belief that one of the characteristics of a professional was to complete ongoing education. Other survey respondents, however, thought the

As was highlighted in Chapter 3, over the years there has been much discussion and debate about the effect of CPD on the competence and knowledge of professionals. Authors such as Postle et al. (2002) and Tennant and Field (2004) have noted a lack of empirical evidence about any positive effects that CPD may have on competence; however, several Cochrane reviews have concluded that CPD can have an effect on work practice, especially after workshop type learning. Nevertheless, many of the responding sonographers were of the opinion that CPD would have little, or no, effect on the ability, competence or knowledge of sonographers. Other concerns included the threat of losing one’s job if a certain amount of CPD credits were not accounted for. In addition, there was the suggestion that having to gain CPD points added pressure and worry to some, whilst other respondents admitted that activities were sometimes attended, not out of a desire to learn something new, but because points were needed. The restrictive and inflexible nature of the CPD system as it stands was remarked upon, although it was also recognised that it could give a good structure for some sonographers.

There were comments made about reluctance of people to complete CPD and of apparent faking of points. Interviews gave extra insight into the apparent reluctance of some sonographers to involve themselves fully in CPD. There was opinion that not all sonographers are the same in nature or learning patterns, and so, whilst not fitting the mould, it was felt by some that many would still benefit from and learn the contribution CPD can make to working life. However, some respondents still felt that there will always be some people who do not want to do more work or study than they have to.

There was little difference between men and women in their belief in the value of CPD, although women appeared to be slightly more positive. City living sonographers also appeared to

be more positive in their belief, although, as discussed in Chapter 6, this is possibly due to the circumstances surrounding the barriers to CPD. Overall the main concerns in this area, belief in the value of CPD, would appear to be the view of many that CPD is not being whole heartedly embraced by everyone; that CPD does not necessarily improve practice; and that the CPD system, as it is now, promotes points gathering, rather than learning and that it may cause added stress due to its restrictiveness. However, most sonographers in the study appear proud of their profession and wish to improve and promote it; and most report they would willingly undertake it regardless of its mandatory status. CPD is undertaken, in general, with a very narrow viewpoint; that it is only to update the professional’s knowledge, rather than to develop the professional as a whole. This viewpoint is not unusual, especially in the health professions (White 2004); however, it has been suggested by Fleet et al. (2008) that CPD should have a broader base than this, encompassing personal, social and political aspects as well as the educational aspects. They further suggested that approaches to CPD which encouraged reflection and identification of learning needs are more likely to be effective.