Professional Values & Identity
After reflecting on my professional values and the values of my employer (Alberta Health Services), I am pleased that they both align and that I use these values daily in my work. I also noticed that my professional values and professional identity tended to intertwine. I have listed and provided a link to the Alberta Health Services values below. As an Evaluation Assistant for Alberta Health Services addiction and mental health Calgary zone portfolio I am compassionate and show empathy towards the individuals I work with; I take accountability for the work that I do, I respect my colleagues and patients, I provide the best evaluation services I possibly can, and improving services and making them safer places is at the forefront of my work.
Compassion & Empathy
When you think about the skills and values that contribute to an evaluator’s professional identity you might include quantitative analyses, knowledge translation, or writing skills. I feel that my empathy and compassion are tools that make my professional identity a bit unique. For example, when I am running a focus group with patients or administering outcome measures I feel that I can connect with patients on a different level due to my lived experiences with mental health and my ability to understand others’ feelings. I believe that by being able to form connections with patients while collecting data, I can provide even stronger evaluation services.
Bringing a human side to the numbers and data is another part of my professional identity that helps me produce excellent work, that aligns with the Alberta Health Services values. I find stepping away from my computer and getting onto the hospital unit or going to the treatment group, allows me to give my work more meaning, and reminds me what the numbers and analyses represent.
Alberta Health Services Values: (click link to view)
Compassion
Accountability
Respect
Excellence
Safety
Collaboration & Relationships
Another core part of my professional identity is being collaborated. I provide research, evaluation, and quality improvement support to the Calgary zone addiction and mental health inpatient and outpatient services/programs. The majority of my work is project-based and is directed by AHS leadership and stakeholders. The nature of the interactions I have with other AHS healthcare professionals is very collaborative. With the work that I do I am the evaluation expert, but I rely on the frontline staff for their expertise on the patients, and leaderships’ experience and expertise with the system and organizational aspects of projects. Daily I will communicate and consult with AHS staff from various healthcare professions. For example, a psychiatrist who runs a Cognitive Behaviour Therapy group may want to know the impact of the group on patients. I will then consult with the psychiatrist and develop an evaluation plan to see the best way to evaluate the CBT group, and then attend the group and collect data.
Building and maintaining strong working relationships is so important to the work that I do. Collaboration is key in providing quality evaluation services to a diverse and innovative healthcare system.
Social Media Identity
I believe that setting clear boundaries about what I share on social media, whether it be personal or professional, to be important in maintaining an appropriate social media presence. I often think “would I be OK with this post being brought up in a job interview?", before I post anything to social media. My employer and the professional ethical standards I adhere to also hold this same expectation of me.
Overall, I feel that an appropriate social media presence is one marked by clear boundaries between my personal and professional life, where I constantly consider my professional ethical standards whenever sharing, and know that certain topics are best not shared at all on such a platform.
Vision, Mission, Values & Strategies. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/about/Page190.aspx
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