Question

1. Health professionals must be registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
   1. Explain how the registration of health professionals protects practitioner/client boundaries. Your answer must be between 50 – 100 words in length.

Answer 1

Under the National Law, which governs the operations of the National Boards and AHPRA, all registered health practitioners must undertake CPD(continuing professional development).The Medical Board of Australia (the Board) will investigate a doctor who is alleged to have breached these guidelines and if the allegations are found to be substantiated, the Board will take action

Personal boundaries or practitioner/client boundaries are the physical, emotional and mental limits people use to protect themselves from being drawn too much into their clients’ lives and from being manipulated or violated by others.

They allow professionals to maintain psychological safety for themselves and their clients, and make objective decisions about the therapeutic process to most effectively assist clients to achieve their goals.

Without these personal boundaries, professionals can run the risk of getting too involved in clients’ issues and wanting to “rescue” their client from their situation. While workers cannot “rescue” their clients, they can work with clients to help them achieve their goals, which may include supporting them to change their situation.

Sometimes we encounter challenging situations in our therapeutic work which can make maintaining these boundaries difficult.

these require workers to have a clear understanding of their role and ethical principles, and the organisation’s policies and code of conduct.

It is also important for workers to be clear and assertive with clients about the boundaries of their role and what is appropriate behaviour for the therapeutic process.