Professional protectionism; a barrier to employing a sonographer graduate?

Abstract

Introduction: The national sonographer workforce deficit is not a new challenge and has been driven by the increasing demand for ultrasound services. The current educational models only facilitate small trainee numbers and are unable to keep abreast of the demand for trained sonographers. This is partially due to the intensive (and often one to one) sonographer training which has instigated much debate relating to alternative models of education. Alongside this, debate continues on the educational level of any future training models; one suggestion being the introduction of a graduate sonographer and the subsequent integration into the current workforce. The aim of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of key stakeholders in relation to potential challenges and barriers, especially associated with protectionism, and to offer recommendations to overcome these. Methods: A total of thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data analysed using a constructivist Grounded Theory approach. Results: The findings suggested that sonographers, as an occupational group, presented challenges and resistance to change as a mechanism for protecting their own roles. This research highlighted that responses to the concept of integrating a new sonographer graduate into the workforce were deeply rooted and centred around power and dominance. Conclusion: The findings from the research identified that tradition and professional culture created barriers for the future development of the sonography profession and that there was an urgent need for change which, it was proposed, could be achieved through clear leadership to manage and implement the changes.

Providing a sustainable sonographer workforce in Australia: Clinical training solutions

“…Recent studies have suggested that a culture of protectionism and motivation to maintain high demand for sonographer services exist within the field of sonography. 7,8 Notwithstanding, the need for more support from management is seen as an important factor in sonographer training.…”

“…Mitchell and Nightingale 7 argue that the disparity between the number of sonographers and the high demand for their services has placed this population in a position of power. Moreover, they suggest that sonographers are motivated to maintain this imbalance, which is thought to explain a present heavy resistance to change 7,8 . Sevens and Reeves 8 in the United Kingdom, hypothesised strong leadership on a national level is currently lacking and will be a crucial factor in overcoming this issue.…”

Trailblazers: Stakeholder motivations for developing degree apprenticeships for the radiography profession

“…In the sonography group there was a clear sense that the lack of regulation and dedicated professional body was related to the perceived lack of recognition and professional identity. 25,26 Interestingly, however participants in the therapeutic group who do have a regulatory and professional body, also recounted this lack of recognition and professional identity.…”

“…it's about professionalism, you know, you've got to change (DR) These findings are not surprising in periods of rapid change (for example, the apprenticeship developments) and professional protectionism becomes evident as resistance to change. 25,26 In particular, for sonography, the introduction of a degree apprenticeship route will align to a complete career restructure. 29 However, also within the sonography group, participants reported seeing opportunities for alternative educational models and training which aligned to the professional pride sub category.…”

Response to the article by Mitchell, P., Nightingale, J., and Reeves, P. (2019). Competence to capability: An integrated career framework for sonographers. Radiography

“…We would like to congratulate Mitchell, Nightingale and Reeves for their article on 'Competence to capability: An integrated career framework for sonographers' for providing a suggested framework for skills escalation for sonographers 1 . This is particularly relevant to the current work being undertaken by Health Education England (HEE) to attempt to address the sonographer shortages in England 2 and challenges faced by the introduction of a wider range of entry points to ultrasound practice 3,4 .…”