Ethical Decision-Making in Physical Therapy |
Principle 5A physical therapist shall achieve and maintain professional competence. This principle includes provisions that physical therapists must practice within the scope of their competence and that they should engage in self-assessment. The profession of physical therapy entails life-long learning. Research and new technologies make this profession dynamic and challenging. The Guide requires therapists to participate in educational activities. The Texas Practice Act requires a specific number of CEUs for license renewal, but these are only a minimum and the individual therapist must determine how much continuing education is necessary to maintain competence in your practice setting. While all therapists may not be completely competent in all aspects of physical therapist, the most important aspect of this principle is to know your limitations and refer to another practitioner when the care of a patient is beyond your competence. There is not a separate case related to this principle, but refer to the previous case. In order for the therapist to be able to recommend to the physician necessary tests and make recommendations, the therapist must speak from a position of competence. What could the therapist in Case 12 do to convince the physician to follow the recommendations of the therapist? Do you think that all patients and referring practitioners believe that all physical therapists are competent? Do you think that all therapists are competent? Why do you think the way you do about this? Should your patients and referring practitioners believe that you are competent? How would they know it?
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