Professionalism for Healthcare Professionals

About this course

This course supports healthcare practitioners in taking an honest look at their professional conduct. It is especially useful for practitioners registered with the GMC, NMC, GDC, HCPC, GPhC and other UK regulators, including anyone currently responding to an inquiry or investigation.

It works through the building blocks of professionalism, the everyday pressures that test it, and what happens when conduct falls short. The emphasis is on behaviour in real workplaces: how professionals treat colleagues as well as patients, how they cope with fatigue and moral distress, how they behave online, and how they speak up. It gives you a structured way to show insight, reflection and a genuine commitment to putting things right.

CPD Value and How to Record It:

This course is designed to provide approximately 2 hours of learning, including reading, the reflection points, the reflective account and the assessment. In the UK, CPD is generally recorded as the time actually spent learning, so you should record the time you genuinely spend, which may be more or less than the estimate.

How the course fits your revalidation or CPD requirements depends on your regulator. For example, the NMC asks nurses, midwives and nursing associates to record 35 hours of CPD over three years, of which at least 20 must be participatory; self-directed online learning such as this course usually counts as individual learning unless you complete it with others. The GMC expects doctors to reflect on CPD for appraisal and revalidation rather than setting a fixed number of hours. The HCPC, GDC, GPhC, GOC, GOsC and GCC each set their own CPD requirements, so check the current rules that apply to you. Always keep your certificate together with your written reflection.

What you will learn

• Explain what professionalism means and why it is central to every clinical setting and regulatory framework.
• Put the building blocks of professional practice to work, from integrity and accountability to person-centred care, confidentiality, respectful communication and clear boundaries.
• Spot the pressures that commonly test professional conduct, including tiredness and burnout.
• Look back honestly and thoughtfully on your own past conduct.
• Show insight, take responsibility and commit to improving.
• Grasp what can follow a professional breach, and why putting things right is key to holding on to trust.
• Bring ethical, professional behaviour into your everyday work.

Who this course is for

Doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, allied health professionals, optometrists, osteopaths, chiropractors and other UK registrants, including those responding to an inquiry or investigation.

Social workers: this cross-profession course covers principles that apply across health and social care; most worked examples come from healthcare settings.

Course content

7 sections · 2 CPD hours · 15 MCQs

Course facts

CPD value

Approximately 2 CPD hours (estimated learning time, including reflection and assessment)

Format

Self-paced reading with workplace cases, reflection points and a written reflective account

Standards covered

GMC, NMC, GDC, GPhC, HCPC, GOC, GOsC and GCC standards; speaking up and whistleblowing law; workplace behaviour and sexual safety; digital conduct

Assessment

15 scenario-based multiple-choice questions; pass mark 12 out of 15 (80%)

Questions about this course