2019 Annual Conference

Health Professionals

Concurrent Session (45 minutes)

This session presents qualitative data that builds upon previous related research regarding how paramedics approach ethical decision making in their paramedic practice. It further explores the role of learning via preparatory or continuing professional education in their approaches to developing awareness, reflection and honing of ethical decision making skills.

This session is appropriate for scholars and practitioners who are interested in several key areas within adult education:  ethics and ethical decision making, applied experiential learning, health professions, continuing professional education, and workforce education.  It also is appropriate for those who are interested in research that contributes to the larger theoretical conceptualizations of continuing professional education (CPE) and continuing medical education (CME) that moves away from the individual unit of analysis and instead focuses upon the situational or mezzo level of analysis.

The learning goals for this session include:
• Introduction to the educational and practice context of paramedicine
• Analysis of the way in which working health professionals learn about and navigate their ethical frameworks and decision making
• Consideration of the continuing professional and continuing medical education scholarly discussions and theory of practice

This session presents data which examines paramedic practice in relation to learning about ethics, developing ethical frames, and navigating ethical decision making in the field.  It relies upon the concept of incremental evidence, in adding to and building upon previous empirical work on this topic. This is a complex area of study which by necessity draws upon systems and actor network theory (Adele Clarke situational analysis and CHAT, Cultural Historical Activity Theory), ethical decision making in practice, and continuing professional education and the analysis of how professionals, and professional governance influence what practicing paramedics have the opportunity to learn – via required preparatory of continuing education and how practicing paramedics pursue their own learning via mentorship and field experience.  The data presented at this session includes contextual or foundational qualitative interviews with Paramedicine faculty and professional policy decision makers, analysis of policy and educational documents, and qualitative interviews with 30 practicing paramedics within a Southeastern state. 

This session will begin with a powerpoint presentation of the data and will allow sufficient time for audience participation, questions and discussion.