Doctorate
Doctorate Title: How do Paramedics Navigate Conveyance Decisions?
Doctorate Description: Introduction: Paramedicine in Australia has evolved rapidly in the last few decades, from exclusively transporting sick and injured patients to hospitals to a role where critical reasoning and clinical decision-making, including patient conveyance decisions, are paramount. With continuing hospital overcrowding, access blocks and ambulance ramping, paramedics need to be able to defer patients safely away from an emergency department. Understanding how paramedics make conveyance decisions is crucial to inform education and policies and procedures to maintain patient safety. This research aims to identify and explore the paramedic’s decision-making and to explain theoretically how Queensland paramedics make conveyance decisions.
Methods: Constructivist grounded theory was the methodology used for this research as it concerns a little-known area. Recruitment was open to registered paramedics employed in Queensland, Australia and required to make conveyance decisions as a part of their job. Participants were recruited through one paramedic professional body and three social media platforms. In line with the key tenets of grounded theory, 16 individual interviews and one asynchronous online focus group with four participants were conducted. Concurrent data collection and constant comparative data analysis, imperative to grounded theory methods, allowed for theoretical sampling and achieved theoretical saturation of data and the construction of the theoretical framework.
Findings: A total of 19 paramedics were recruited to participate in this research, including 16 interviews with 15 participants, one participant was interviewed twice and a focus group consisting of five participants. This research constructed a theoretical framework titled the tensions of organisational culture and professionalisation. The identifies barriers to paramedics making these decisions. Further research is required to inform professional bodies, education providers and paramedics’ employers.
Details:
Type: PhD
University: University of the Sunshine Coast
Primary Supervisor: Associate Professor Bill Lord
Category: Professional Development
Funding: None
Start Date: 2016
End Date: 2023
Status: Complete
