Inherent requirements for Chinese Medicine Health Care Disciplines

Student demonstrates knowledge of ethics and conduct requirements by engaging in ethical behaviour in their practice.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Compliance with the relevant codes, guidelines and policies facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and/or the people they work with. This is to ensure the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of the patients, their families and community
• Chinese medicine has a responsibility and commitment to the health and well-being of individual patients and society through professional and ethical practice within the Australian medico-legal framework
• Chinese medicine has a strong commitment to equality and equity in health outcomes for people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Demonstrating commitment to the Close the Gap: Indigenous Health Campaign 2030

Exemplars:

• Complying with requirements relating to informed consent, privacy and confidentiality with client information in academic and clinical environments
• Demonstrating appropriate behaviour and sensitivity when working with people from diverse backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and taking responsibility for ethical behaviours on practice and equitable access to Chinese medicine health care

Student demonstrates behavioural stability to work constructively in a diverse and changing academic and clinical environment.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Behavioural stability is required to work individually and in teams in changing and unpredictable environments. Chinese medicine students will be exposed to people with acute and chronic health conditions, life contexts and human suffering and will be required to have behavioural stability to manage these events objectively and professionally

Exemplars:

• Reflecting on practice and responding appropriately to constructive feedback
• Coping with own emotions and behaviour effectively when dealing with individuals in the clinical environment
• Demonstrating empathic and compassionate care in clinical settings

Chinese medicine practice is mandated by the  Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to enable the safe delivery of Chinese medicine health care.

Student  demonstrates knowledge and compliance with Australian Law, professional regulation and scope of practice.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Knowledge, understanding, and compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements are necessary for completing clinical placements to reduce the risk of harm to self and others
• Compliance with the professional regulations and the National Law ensures that students are both responsible and accountable for their practice

Exemplars:

• Complying with the requirement for student registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and monitoring own health for working in health care environments with the public, including adhering to Ahpra and National Boards vaccination requirements.
• Complying with relevant child protection (Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 and Work Health and Safety Act 2011
• Complying with Australian Regulatory Guidelines for Complementary Medicines regulations

Student demonstrates:

• The ability to understand and respond to verbal communication accurately and appropriately in context
• The ability to provide clear instructions in the context of the situation
• Ability to provide  clear feedback when reporting to supervisor or other health care practitioners

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Communicating in a way that displays respect and empathy to others, develops trusting relationships
• Communication may be restricted to verbal because of physical limitations of the individual (for example, injury, disease, or congenital conditions).
• Accurate and effective communication may be critical for individual safety or treatment
• Clear verbal communication is necessary to ensure effective assessment of symptoms to facilitate an accurate assessment

Exemplars:

• Practising verbal communication in classroom clinical simulations using clear instructions to convey instructions and respond to questions
• Establishing rapport, through verbal communication, with patients during Chinese medicine clinical health care assessment, management, and ongoing care
• Responding appropriately to a verbal care request in the clinical environment from supervisors, patients, and other health professionals

Student demonstrates:

• The capacity to recognise, interpret and respond appropriately to behavioural cues
• Consistent and appropriate awareness of own behaviours
• Sensitivity to individual, cultural and community non-verbal communication differences

Justification of inherent requirement:

• The ability to observe and understand and respond to non-verbal cues assists with building rapport with people
• Displaying appropriate facial expressions,  being mindful of interpersonal space boundaries , and physical gestures can promote trust in academic and professional relationships
• Being sensitive to individual differences displays respect and empathy to others and develops trusting relationships
• The ability to observe and understand non-verbal cues is essential for the safe and effective observation of patient signs, and reactions to facilitate appropriate and responsive assessment and treatment interventions

Exemplars:

• Recognising and responding professionally to cues and activities in classroom clinical practicums and teaching and learning activities
• Recognising and responding appropriately to patient non-verbal cues in the clinical environment
• Managing own non-verbal behaviours to ensure  consistent professional non-verbal response to people with diverse health needs

Student demonstrates:

• The capacity to locate appropriate and relevant information
• The ability to process and synthesise information relevant to practice scope and patients’ needs
• The ability to integrate and implement knowledge to diverse practice contexts
• Capacity to solve problems and think laterally regarding clinical and logistical issues

Justification of inherent requirement:

Safe and effective delivery of Chinese medicine health care is based on comprehensive knowledge that must be sourced, understood, and applied appropriately within the profession’s scope of practice across diverse contexts and in response to patients’ varying care needs

Exemplars:

• Ability to conceptualise and use relevant knowledge appropriately in response to academic assessment items
• Ensuring patient safety and effective healthcare provision by appropriately applying knowledge of theory, empirical and research evidence, policies and procedures in the clinical environment
• Managing multiple tasks and considerations relating to patient assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care

Student demonstrates:

• The ability to accurately acquire information and accurately convey appropriate effective messages
• The ability to read and comprehend a range of literature and information
• The capacity to understand and implement academic conventions to construct written text in a scholarly manner
• The capacity to construct coherent written communication appropriate to the circumstances.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• The ability to acquire information and to accurately convey messages is fundamental to ensure safe and effective assessment, treatment, and delivery of care
• The ability to read, decode, interpret, and comprehend multiple sources of information is fundamental for the safe and effective delivery of Chinese medicine care
• Accurate written communication, including record-keeping and patient notes, meeting legal requirements, is vital to provide consistent and safe patient care

Adjustments pertaining to literacy issues must allow the student to demonstrate a capacity to effectively acquire, comprehend, apply and communicate accurate information. Adjustments specific to the individual can be discussed with a Disability Advisor.

Exemplars:

• Demonstrates the ability to listen to information and convey a spoken message accurately
• Demonstrates ability to paraphrase, summarise and reference in accordance with appropriate academic conventions
• Demonstrates ability to record clinical notes accurately, concisely and clearly.

Student demonstrates the ability to interpret and correctly apply data, measurements and numerical criteria.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Competent application of numeracy skills is essential in Chinese medicine to facilitate the safe and effective delivery of Chinese medicine care

Exemplars:

• Performing accurate herbal medicine weight and dosage calculations
• Calculating anatomical ratio measurements using proportional systems of measurements to accurately locate acupuncture points and to determine needling depth
• Demonstrating accurate calculation of heart rate, and respiration rates per minute or laser dosage per location

Student demonstrates:

• An ability to reflect constructively on professional performance
• An ability to accept accountability for professional decisions and actions
• An awareness of own responses in diverse health care and patient contexts

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Culturally safe practice requires ongoing critical reflection of practising behaviours, power differentials and attitudes in delivering safe, accessible, and responsive healthcare free of racism.
• Chinese medicine practice requires ongoing self-reflection of performance and skills for continuing professional development to ensure practice remains safe, and responsive to emerging innovation, research evidence and patient care needs
• Professional practice requires an awareness of self and responses in diverse situations to moderate thoughts and reactions appropriately to patient’s needs and circumstance
• Health care students and practitioners require self-reflection to monitor own health needs to ensure they remain healthy and safe to make clinical judgements and to deliver healthcare that is safe for the public

Exemplars:

• Demonstrating referring to supervisor or another practitioner when scope of patients’ needs are outside of students skill capability
• Reflecting on current skills and knowledge and identifying future learning needs
• Acknowledging impacts and seeking support when required to manage impacts from own health condition on professional practice

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient visual acuity is necessary to demonstrate the required range of skills, tasks and assessments to maintain consistent, accurate and safe care to self and others
• Visual observations, examination and assessment are fundamental to safe and effective Chinese medicine practice

Adjustments must address the need to perform the full range of tasks involved in clinical practice. Any strategies to address the effects of the vision impairment must be effective and not compromise treatment or safety. Adjustments specific to the individual can be discussed with a Disability Advisor.

Exemplars:

• Accurately identify herbs; acupuncture or manual therapy instruments and equipment; or the appropriately marked biological waste disposal unit for Sharps and non-Sharps waste
• Accurately identifying visual diagnostic changes: anatomy, skin tone, scars, bruising
• Observing and detecting subtle changes in posture and movement for functional activities during assessment and treatment

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient auditory capacity is necessary to monitor, assess and manage individual’s health needs consistently and accurately
• Auditory assessments and observations are fundamental to safe and effective Chinese medicine practice

Exemplars:

• Performing accurate cardiopulmonary assessment by using a stethoscope
• Detecting care requests, patient questions and inquiries or calls for help/assistance
• Detecting changes in patient voice character

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient tactile ability is necessary to monitor, assess and detect patients' physical characteristics and act on any abnormalities or differences detected to provide thorough Chinese medicine health care
• Tactile assessments and observations are fundamental to safe and effective Chinese medicine practice

Adjustments should facilitate student to make effective assessments of physical characteristics and differences within safe timeframes. Adjustments specific to the individual can be discussed with a Disability Advisor.

Exemplars:

• Detecting any changes in circulation (temperature, pulse palpation) or skin temperature (signs of soft tissue inflammation)
• Conducting a physical assessment of the joints, muscles, soft tissues, to detect any anatomical abnormalities or perceived differences

Identifying tactile variations in the surface anatomy to guide the accurate and precise location for treatment application or insertion of acupuncture devices

Student demonstrates the ability to perform gross motor skills to function in order to meet the requirements of the discipline’s code of practice

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient gross motor skills are necessary to perform the required levels of care. Tasks that involve gross motor skills include lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, standing, twisting, and bending. Students must be able to demonstrate and perform these tasks consistently and safely to reduce the risk of harm to self and others.
• Ability to appropriately position, self, equipment, and patient to perform tasks reliably is required to reduce risk of harm to self and others

Exemplars:

• Maintaining balance while applying acupuncture or manual therapy treatment
• Assisting patients, with varying physical capacities, to and from beds, chairs and standing, in a variety of environments
• Able to safely retrieve and utilise stock and equipment

Student demonstrates the ability to use fine motor skills to provide safe effective care.

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient fine motor skills are necessary to perform, coordinate and prioritise care. Tasks that involve fine motor skills include being able to grasp, press, push, turn, squeeze and manipulate various objects and anatomical structures. Students must be able to demonstrate and perform these tasks consistently and safely to reduce the risk of harm to self and others
• Fine motor skills are required to manipulate needling devices, including adjusting needles to appropriate depth and angles, and for manipulation techniques to moderate acupuncture treatment dosage
• Sufficient fine motor skills are necessary to operate specialised Chinese medicine health care equipment and devices, including interacting with lasers and setting up electro acupuncture machines

Exemplars:

• Demonstrating dexterous use of treatment equipment, including fine motor control to perform a range of needle manipulation techniques in situ at different body locations for safe and effective health care.
• Applying differing levels of finger strength to arterial pulsations to discriminate parameter changes in the arterial pressure and flow waves at different levels of depth
• Ability to adjust body, hand, and finger configuration for appropriate application (strength, direction, frequency) of remedial manual therapy techniques to different anatomical structures

Student demonstrates:

• Consistent and sustained level of physical energy to complete a specific task in a timely manner and over time
• The ability to perform repetitive activities with a level of concentration that ensures a capacity to focus on the activity until it is completed appropriately
• The capacity to maintain consistency and quality of performance throughout the designated period of health care delivery

Justification of inherent requirement:

• Sufficient physical and mental endurance is an essential requirement needed to perform multiple tasks in an assigned period to provide safe and effective care

Exemplars:

• Provide consistent Chinese medicine, Yang sheng wellbeing (Chinese medicine principle) and lifestyle management over a negotiated time frame
• Maintaining appropriate time management to provide healthcare services to the expected number of patients in a given time frame

Student demonstrates:

• Ability to use ICT appropriately and effectively, in a range of Chinese medicine disciplinary and health care areas

Justification of inherent requirement:

• The ability to use computing skills (both specific and non-specific to Chinese medicine) is fundamental to Chinese medicine health care practice
• Chinese medicine health care innovation is increasingly integrating computing in diagnosis and new treatment interventions
• Chinese medicine health care patient information systems are increasingly cloud based to support practitioners working from multiple locations.
• Computing skills are necessary to operate computers, mobile devices (laptops, phones, pads), and software used for contacting patients and other health care professionals and for referrals
• Chinese medicine disciplines utilise online forums to network and communicate, nationally and internationally. To assist with continuing professional development opportunities online and abroad.

Exemplars:

• Preparing patient data entries for online patient record management systems
• Using Chinese herbal medicine software programs to process and present information relevant to the preparation of patient prescriptions and labelling
• Using applications and devices to locate online evidence and research papers to inform patient decision making and treatment planning