Defining professionalism for nutrition and dietetic education: a systematic review of the literature

Professionalism of healthcare practitioners is central to safe and ethical healthcare and forms part of the trust that the public places in healthcare practitioners. Lapses in professionalism in healthcare present considerable challenges and can have serious consequences and outcomes. Teaching, learning and assessing professionalism is an important component of nutrition and dietetic education. There is scant peer reviewed published research related to professionalism in nutrition and dietetics. Providing a definition of professionalism will support progress in curriculum planning and design, teaching, learning and assessment of students and ongoing professional development of educators and practitioners.The aim of this study was to conceptualise and define professionalism for the purpose of teaching nutrition and dietetics.This study included a critical systematic literature review of original research and a targeted and systematic search of national and international dietetic competency standards, exploring the concept and definitions of professionalism in nutrition and dietetics. Competency standards were chosen as an additional focus in the systematic literature search as they are the key framework documents that guide curriculum development and education standards internationally. Thematic analysis was used to synthesise extracted data and an inductive, interpretivist approach was then applied in conceptualising a definition of professionalism.Seven studies and six national and international sets of competency standards were included in the literature review. Four major themes conceptualizing a definition of professionalism for nutrition and dietetics were identified from the integration of the original research and targeted gray literature reviews: (i) Personal attributes; (ii) Interpersonal communication; (iii) Approach to practice and (iv) Commitment to lifelong learning.Defining professionalism for nutrition and dietetics supports progress towards shared understandings – building trust and assisting in dietetic education and practice. It can be used to support and extend teaching, learning and assessment of professionalism.