Marisa A. Colston, PhD, ATC and Gretchen Schlabach, PhD, ATC
The NATA Professional Responsibility in Athletic Training (PRAT) Committee received support from the NATA Board of Directors to identify shared professional values (PV) among NATA members. To date, unlike many other healthcare professional organizations, members of the NATA do not have shared PV. Our members must abide by and be mindful of the numerous legal, ethical and regulatory (LER) statutes, principles, and rules of professional practice in athletic training (aka, compliance orientation). While this form of orientation serves a critical purpose for NATA members, the PRAT proposes the addition of a values orientation approach, which supports and simplifies the necessary, but countless professional documents.
The primary difference between the two types of orientation is that compliance orientation is rules based, whereas values orientation is ethically/morally based. The ability to recall in the compliance approach is difficult (i.e., countless documents to remember), however recall is easy for values orientation (i.e., only 5-10 PV). The motivation for each also differs with compliance orientation being driven by external motivation and values orientation being internally motivated. The most impactful difference, however, is found in the overall objective for each approach. Compliance orientation is designed to prevent misconduct, however, the objective for the “values” approach is to enable professional conduct. Perspective does make a difference.
The “Compliance” approach requires a deliberate analysis of LER statutes, principles, and rules of professional practice. In contrast, the “Values” orientation approach requires an acquisition and internalization of values, which in turn, guides good/right conduct. As such compliance orientation is more measured in comparison to the values orientation. Given PV are moral in nature, they serve to inspire intuitive and impulsive good/right conduct, which becomes particularly helpful for the many spontaneous challenges encountered by athletic trainers in all settings. Both orientations encourage good/right professional conduct. The compliance orientation works well when time is not an issue and one can be measured in his or her analysis. On the other hand in emergent situations, the values orientation works well to ensure that impulsive, initial actions are in a good/right direction. When combined, both orientations are compelling.
Information on the specific PV selected by and for the NATA membership will be presented at the 2021 TATS Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium and will also be forthcoming by the NATA MarCom.