Physiotherapy is a term that was coined from two terms: physical and therapy. A physiotherapist is therefore a professional who is in charge of the cases of patients’ physical health. This simply implies that a physiotherapist should be ready to deal with the physical challenges that arise from injuries, diseases, aging or disability. Australia has created a good environment for the operation of physiotherapists. Physiotherapy has been recognized as a vital discipline that has important contributions to make in the uplifting the face of the healthcare sector in the country.
A physiotherapist, being in charge of the patients’ physical health, should be responsible for serving a wide range of patients including the children, adults, people with sports injuries, patients with stroke, and the elderly. These are people who, in one stage or the other, might be exposed to injuries or illnesses that might result into an injury. However, for effective service-delivery, the physiotherapist is ready to discharge the duties in a responsible manner (McNamee, Partridge & Anderson, 2016).
The first responsibility of a physiotherapist is to assess the conditions of the patients with physical conditions and diagnose them so as to determine if they have a physical problem that needs to be addressed. Diagnosis is a very important process in the treatment of a patient because it can be relied upon to know the illnesses from which the patient suffers. A physiotherapist should be a diverse professional who can handle different conditions such as respiratory, cardiovascular, neuromuscularskeletal, and neurological. Physical illness and injuries can be categorized under each of these sections (Skinner, Thomas, Reeve & Patman, 2016). Therefore, every serious physiotherapist should be ready to serve all these kinds of patients because each of them has a unique set of problems to be addressed.
The other responsibility of a physiotherapist is to provide a holistic and patient-centered treatment to the patient. All the physical injuries can be treated and managed if appropriate interventions are taken. Therefore, as an expert, a physiotherapist should use the skills to design, develop and review an appropriate treatment program that can be used in serving the patient. All these should be done after carrying out an effective and objective assessment and diagnosis of the patients’ conditions (Crane & Delany, 2013). However, for an effective treatment and management of the physical illnesses, the physiotherapist should be ready to work in collaboration with the patients, parents, carers, colleagues, and other professionals. For example, a cohesive relationship with the carers can be relied upon when educating the patients to create awareness and sensitization on the management of physical illnesses.
Lastly, the physiotherapist has a responsibility of data collection and documentation of the patients’ records. Documentation is one of the most important activities in healthcare. A proper documentation of the patients’ records can help in eliminating any cases of errors that might arise during the diagnosis and treatment of the patients. However, for a proper documentation of the patients’ records, the physiotherapist should work in conjunction with other healthcare professionals like social workers, occupational therapists, physicians, and GPs (Bennell, Egerton, Wrigley, Hodges, Hunt, Roos & Skou, 2013). A coordinated collaboration amongst these professionals can help in the sharing of information on the progress and background of the patients to be attended to. At the same time, inter-disciplinary collaboration can be relied upon to improve the quality of service delivery because it can help in referring the patients to other experts whenever it is necessary to do so.
Just like any other healthcare professionals, physiotherapists are considered as important professionals who have valuable contributions to make in the healthcare sector. A physiotherapist is identified as a professional who possess certain skills. A physiotherapist should be a good communicator. Communication is an essential skill in healthcare. Therefore, as part of the healthcare system, a physiotherapist should have excellent communication skills. Excellent listening and persuasion skills can enable the physiotherapist to win the confidence of the patients (Scott-Hunter, Sims & Vicenzino, 2015). It can also play a significant role in establishing a healthy interpersonal relationship between the physiotherapist and the patients. A listening professional is compassionate, caring and understanding.
Besides, a physiotherapist should be identified as a team player. Meaning, a physiotherapist should not work in isolation, but be ready to collaborate with other stakeholders whenever attending to a patient. Healthcare is a diverse sector that has different players each of whom having a well-defined boundary. However, to help in delivering satisfactory healthcare services to the patients, all the practitioners should be encouraged to collaborate with one another (Fitzpatrick, Kruger, Ainley & Cheng, 2015). A physiotherapist who acknowledges and collaborates with the physicians, nurses, social workers, and pharmacists can succeed in improving the physical condition of the patient no matter how deteriorating it might be. Team work is a good culture that should be fostered in every working environment (Clark, Kirwan & Dalton, 2015). It can also serve as a basis for fostering the spirit of tolerance, healthy relations, problem solving, and cohesion in the workplace.
In Australia, physiotherapy is considered as a fully-fledged profession within the healthcare sector. The activities of the physiotherapy sector are controlled by the Physiotherapy Board of Australia which is a subsidiary of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). So far, AHPRA and the Physiotherapy Board of Australia have acknowledged physiotherapy as a discipline consisting of the following sub-specialties: Women’s Health, Sports, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, Neurology, Geriatrics, Clinical Electrophysiology, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physiotherapy.
AHPRA is the overall agency that is charged with the responsibility of regulating the activities of all the healthcare practitioners in the country. The agency has spanning across all the health specialties. Currently, it is made up of the Physiotherapy Board, Psychology Board, Podiatry Board, Pharmacy Board, Osteometry Board, Optometry Board, Occupational Therapy Board, Nursing and Midwifery Board, Medical Rediation Practice Board, Medical Board, and Dental Board. AHPRA, as a supreme association, has been responsible for supervising the activities of all the healthcare boards in the country (Schneiders, 2015). The association has been setting standards that must be adhered to by all the healthcare professionals across the nation. It has also been concerned about the observance of professional codes of conduct by each of the boards.
As a subsidiary of the AHPRA, the Physiotherapy Board of Australia has been mandated to be in charge of all the affairs of the physiotherapy profession in Australia. The first responsibility of the board is the registration of physiotherapists. It is the board that has been given power to audit, register, and renew the registration of all the physiotherapy students and practitioners. The board also registers Australian physiotherapists who are willing to practice in the foreign countries as well as the other foreigners who are willing to relocate to Australia (Button, et al., 2016). A through vetting and assessment of the potential practitioners has enabled the board to ensure that it only accepts highly trained and experienced physiotherapists in the country. The board acknowledged that physiotherapy is a challenging profession that requires to be handled by self-motivated and compassionate professionals who are ready to endure the difficulties
Apart from the registration of the physiotherapists, the board has been responsible for setting standards to be followed by all the physiotherapists in the country. The bard has been acting under the authority of section 47(6) of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (the National Law) which has given it powers to be responsible for the accreditation of the entire physiotherapy program in the country. Before any program is approved, it has to be thoroughly evaluated by the board to ensure that it meets all the prerequisite conditions. At the same time, the board has been responsible for setting standards to be complied by individual practitioners who are interested in joining physiotherapy (Wood, Hill, Cecins, Mulrennan, Morey & Jenkins, 2016). Before registering anyone, the board has to carry out an objective background check to ensure that everyone has the required academic and professional competencies required of them as a physiotherapist.
Last, but not least, the Physiotherapy Board of Australia has been playing a significant role in the promotion of ethical values within the physiotherapy profession. So far, the board has put in place a professional code of conduct which stipulates that all that each and every practicing physiotherapist should provide good care, respect the patients, collaborate with other professionals, cause no harm to the patient, work with patients and carers, and maintain professionalism at all times. A strict observance of these codes of conduct is paramount in physiotherapy because it can help in instilling the spirit of responsibility in the physiotherapists (Lam, Liamputtong & Hill, 2015). For example, the principle of beneficence can make it much easier for the practitioner to serve the patient with respect without causing any harm at all. These are important ethical values that must not be overlooked by any physiotherapist who is committed to improving the health of the patients (Takla, Bennell, Hunter, Kasza, Spiers, O’Donnell & Hinman, 2017). The setting and enforcement of these standards has brought sanity in the physiotherapy profession in the country.
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