Skills for Employability? -No need thanks! We re radiographers!

Transcription

1 Skills for Employability? -No need thanks! We re radiographers! Healthcare Professionals, Stand Out from the Crowd Keren Williamson MSc DCR(T) PGCE FHEA School of Healthcare Sciences

2 Overview How does employability relate to Healthcare professionals? Pilot radiography / radiotherapy graduates Outcome evaluation what next?

3 Background Perception Therapeutic / Diagnostic Radiography degree programmes are self contained Competency based Required skills are built in Standards of proficiency HCPC Professional standards SCoR Code of Professional Conduct

4 Background Reality NHS financial constraints More competition for jobs Local jobs offered to graduates from other HEIs All graduates have same degree Often jobs are offered prior to award Need to stand out from the crowd

5 Employer perspective What are Radiology / Radiotherapy Services Managers looking for? Person specifications - essential / desirable skills NHS jobs

6 Students perception What do students THINK they are looking for? How to persuade students of the need to gain and demonstrate these skills? Scare them just a little bit perhaps?!!

7 Introduce the issue Explore students perceptions of employability TurningPoint 65 final year diagnostic & therapeutic radiography students Academic module: Healthcare Management My degree will provide me with the skills for employability within radiography / radiotherapy 83% 1 1. Agree 2. Disagree 17% n= 54 n= 11

8 Introduce the issue 4 person specs downloaded and anonymised from NHS jobs website Which of the person specs is specific to a Band 5 radiographer? 1. A 2. B 3. C 4. D 51% 19% 10% 21% 1. A =Band 5 RAD 2. B = Band 5 ODP 3. C = NHS storesmanager 4. D = Band 5 community PHYSIO n= 33 n= 12 n= 7 n= 13

9 Offer a solution! Carrots Not management Not delivered by me Not on campus

10 Skills training 3 certified courses 5 units of training 2 hours each per unit Not all sessions within programmes relevant to context of health Negotiated which sessions would be delivered Appropriate to radiography Training scenarios changed to a radiography context Important for student engagement

11 Skills training Certificate of Professional Development for Healthcare Professionals Preparation for Speaking & Presenting How to present yourself Team Working Team roles Organisational Skills & Time Management Prioritising, record keeping, self motivation Problem Solving Decision making Dealing with Difficult People Working effectively with others, skills for negotiation

12 Does this fit with standards? Contribute effectively as part of MDT Accurate record keeping Ensure that your appearance inspires confidence in patients Systematic approach to problem solving / decision making Work appropriately with others YES! HCPC SCoR

13 Skills training Feb- May final year 54 / 65 students completed all training sessions 83% Certificates issued Endorsed by Vice Chancellor, SU & pwc 24 evaluations completed (44%)

14 Evaluation How useful was this Chart course? Title n = 14 1 Not at all n = n =1 n =2 5 Extremely 0 useful?

15 Evaluation How useful was each skills training session? not very useful neutral very useful / useful 5 0 SP PS TW OS & TM DDP

16 Evaluation How confident do you feel to use these new skills? 16 n = Not at all n = 4 n =5 4 5 Extremely 2 0 confident?

17 Evaluation Would you recommend this course to your friends? 1 YES NO 23

18 Comments All the sessions had something that you could take away with you.. I can use these skills when applying for jobs I really enjoyed it! I wanted to gain and improve upon skills that an employer considers to be important Would be more beneficial if offered 6 months earlier before we start applying for jobs

19 So,what do the employers consider to be the most important skills for employability? Limited to 5 units, is this the right combination of skills? What about Leadership? Communication? CPD? HCPC and SCoR requirements Already embedded within curriculum

20 Back to the employers.... BOS survey List of skills / attributes for employability, Band 5 radiographer Rank top 5 Essential but not top 5 Desirable but not required How would you test for these?

21 Employers perspective Clear Top 3 skills / attributes (n=7) Communication Team player Motivation Mix of others Good time keeping Willingness to learn Smart appearance More important than organisational skills Organisational skills Essential but not top 5 Commitment to CPD (n=6) Flexible approach Enthusiastic Leadership (n=7) Desirable, not required HCPC standard

22 Would a certified course be of benefit to applicants? 3 4 YES NO Despite stating that skills would be tested through portfolio of evidence

23 Conclusion Employability is often confused with outcomes First destination returns, particularly in healthcare Employment indicators Suggests an institutional achievement rather than an individual student s ability to get a job The ability of a university to affect employment rates HEI Employability? Linear relationship - suggests burden of responsibility for employment is on RAD graduate RAD Graduate Competition Employment Adapted from Harvey, 2001

24 Conclusion HEI RAD Graduate Adapted from Harvey, 2001 Implies joint responsibility for development of skills Employability skills development opportunities Engagement with opportunities offered Employer Employability Recruitment procedures It is the employer who converts employability into employment Where skills are not embedded within curriculum, opportunities should be offered for development of the necessary skills Employment

25 What next? RADS pilot Has provided opportunities for employability skills development Sessions must be appropriate to context, & fit with employers needs Student radiographers perceive their degrees to provide them with all that they need to achieve employment Majority of students engaged with development opportunity offered Explore suitability across healthcare disciplines? Extra-curricular? Year 1?

26 Acknowledgments Staff and Student Officers of the Cardiff University Students Union and Skills Development Service

27 Key sources of information Cox, S. & King, D Skills sets: an approach to embed employability in course design. Education & Training 48(4), pp Dray, B. et al Enhancing the employability of newly qualified nurses: a pilot study. Journal of Further & Higher Education 35(3), pp Harvey, L Defining & measuring employability. Quality in Higher Education 7(2), pp HCPC Standards of Proficiency - Radiographers. London: HCPC Higher Education Academy Pedagogy for Employability. York: HEA Panel on Fair Access to the Professions Unleashing Aspiration: Final Report of the Panel on Access Fair to the Professions. London: Crown Copyright. Rosenburg, S et al Basic employability skills: a triangular design approach. Education & Training 54(1), pp.7-20 SCoR Code of Professional Conduct. London: SCoR. Cardiff University The Way Forward Education & Students Cardiff University Graduate employability & enterprise skills strategy Cardiff University Education Strategy to