Leadership Studies Ed.D. Dissertations

Attitudes, knowledge, and perception: the decision of a radiography program director to implement the use of interprofessional education in curriculum through the lens of ethical leadership

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Judith May (Committee Chair)

Second Advisor

Kristina LaVenia (Committee Member)

Third Advisor

Margaret Brooks (Other)

Fourth Advisor

Dawn LaBarbera (Committee Member)

Fifth Advisor

Patrick Pauken (Committee Member)

Abstract

The expectation of healthcare professionals is to provide quality, patient-centered care to all patients. Miscommunication between the healthcare team resulted in segmented care and medical errors. As disconnects were discovered, healthcare professionals began promoting a team-based approach to care. The team-based approach helped eliminate barriers that inhibited effective communication and quality care to patients, providing a more cohesive patient care experience. Implementing team-based, patient-centered care in professional practice requires training to be introduced at the educational level of healthcare programs. A teaching strategy called interprofessional education (IPE) was developed to help teach students from different healthcare professions to learn with, from, and about each other’s professions. Over time, healthcare education program accreditors were able to integrate IPE recommendations into their learning standards. However, not all healthcare professions chose to include IPE in their educational accreditation standards which left the decision to use IPE in some healthcare programs up to the program director. One healthcare profession in particular, radiography, has not yet mandated IPE into its educational accreditation standards. This study explored if radiography program directors’ self-reported attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of IPE were associated with their self-reported level of use of IPE in their programs. The author created a survey to collect data from radiography program directors accredited by JRCERT (N = 262). Analysis of the data revealed a positive association between program directors’ attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of IPE and their decision to use IPE in their radiography programs. Investigating the relationship between program directors’ attitudes, iv knowledge, and perceptions of IPE and their level of use of IPE contributed to an understanding of how educational leaders’ make decisions that impact their programs and subsequent profession. Data analyses were examined through a lens of ethical leadership. The ethic of profession served as the theoretical lens to examine data analyses through a lens of ethical leadership. This study emphasizes that personal considerations of a decision maker should not be overlooked in the decision-making process. The DRE process incorporates practical and ethical considerations into a stepwise process and encourages leaders to make the best decision possible when the choice is optional.

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