Professionalism: the
conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a
professional person (Merriam-Webster.com). The definition is
straightforward enough, or so one would think. However, there seems to
be a fundamental lack of understanding of this basic concept in the
modern world. We ask for professionalism in our employees, managers, and
public service workers. We expect our doctors, nurses, police officers,
and politicians to “act professionally,” but do we really know what
that means?
When
we interact with a supposed “professional,” we expect a certain
demeanor. We want them to treat us with courtesy and respect. We listen
for those important little words such as please and thank you. We also
expect a certain degree of knowledge and empathy. Why then, do so many
of these so-called professionals seem to lack these basic traits? When I
worked as a nurse, I expected my nurse management to be knowledgeable
in the specialty for which they managed as well as empathetic and
trustworthy toward their subordinates. However, I frequently found the
opposite to be true. Have you ever worked for someone and wondered “how
in the world did this person qualify for management?” More often than
not, my nurse managers were rude, overbearing, incompetent, and overall
unapproachable.
I
find this becoming more prevalent in other professions as well. Police
officers are a prime example. Over the past decade or so, law
enforcement officers have been publicized for acting anything but
professional. Has professional police conduct become defined as
over-reacting to situations, jumping to conclusions, intimidating and
overall bullying the general populace?
What
about retail and hospitality management? As a nurse working in the
emergency room, I have encountered many retail and other public service
employees misusing the healthcare system in order to obtain a “doctor’s
note” excusing them from work due to fevers, sore throats, and otherwise
general malaise. Working in the retail field, I have also seen many of
my co-workers coerced into performing unsafe tasks due to management’s
insistence. Isn’t it more professional for a manager to ensure their
underlings’ health and safety over “just getting the job done?”
Doctors,
nurses, teachers, lawyers, etc. also act in a more than questionable
manner. So many of the nurses, social workers, and doctors I have worked
with would gossip at length about their weekend barhopping exploits and
overwhelming needs for wine, beer, etc. due to increased amounts of
workplace stress directly in front of patients and their families as
well as lower level employees such as nurse aides and unit secretaries. I
don’t know about you, but I for one would not feel too comfortable
listening to my nurse explain how she drank a little too much the night
prior as she is attempting to initiate my IV line. I’ve had run ins with
lawyers and teachers who seem to believe that intimidation is a
respectable asset. Is it really that respectable to demean and coerce
others into compliance?
Even
simple acts of courtesy seem to be lost these days. How many times have
you interviewed for a job and then never heard anything back for weeks
or even months? What about the rude, assumptive attitudes of secretaries
answering phones or cashiers ringing out your purchases? How many sales
representatives and cleaners have knocked on your door or shown up to
your business or home without even a uniform?
Our
ancestors lived in eras where people of authority were expected to
conduct themselves with a certain level of competence and respectability
and for the most part, they did. In 1952 for example, if a police
officer pulled you over, you could be fairly certain that you had been
performing some sort of unsafe or illegal activity. You could also be
certain that said officer would treat you with common courtesy and maybe
even instruct you on how to avoid a similar infraction in the future.
Teachers were employed to teach. The job required a certain level of
ingenuity, empathy, and patience toward all manners of learning styles.
Nurses and doctors were expected to care for their patients without bias
or oversharing snippets of their personal lives as if sex and
alcoholism were normal occurrences in everyone’s lives. You knew that
your neighbor was a lawncare specialist because he wore a uniform.
I
am by no means saying that those who hold professional titles cannot be
stoic and authoritative or that these individuals cannot indulge in
after-hours vices. It takes a great deal of personal strength to be able
to handle most of these jobs. However, we should strive toward a
society where managers are empathetic experts in their field of
management and police officers are respectable authorities with the sole
purpose of ensuring safety without passing judgement or bullying others
into submission. We need a society where doctors and nurses “practice
what they preach” and remain conscious of how they are conducting
themselves in front of their patients. Teachers need to learn to accept
children for their differing learning styles and be able to assist those
students to excel in their studies rather than bully them into a cookie
cutter mold of the perfect student. We need to stop being afraid of the
consequences of offending others. We need to re-think our current
definition of professionalism and understand that if you are deemed a
professional, it is for good reason and you should always conduct
yourself accordingly because you are an authority in your field. You are
a figure who is looked up to and should strive for a level of respect
that no one can cast doubt upon.
