Leadership Competencies for Physical Therapists: A Delphi Determination

Abstract

Introduction. Leadership is linked to patient experience and quality of care. Some health care professions have identified leadership competencies to guide curriculum design. Yet, the physical therapy profession lacks explicit leadership competencies for the point-of-care professional. The academic community is inconsistent including leadership development within Doctor of Physical Therapy entry-level education or residency/fellowship training. This project aimed to fill this knowledge gap and inform the conversation on leadership competencies essential for new graduate physical therapists while clarifying whether expectations differ for those physical therapists with additional experience who do not hold formal leadership positions. Subjects. Delphi panel of physical therapists with content expertise in leadership Methods. A collated document of leadership competencies was circulated electronically to the Delphi panelists for 2 rounds of structured review. Each panelist rated each competency for level of importance for new graduate physical therapists and the more experienced physical therapists. Consensus threshold was set priori at 0.80. Results. The Delphi panel consisted of 14 content experts. Ten completed 2 rounds of review. Of the 76 potential leadership competencies, 37 were deemed as “very important” and 1 as “somewhat” important for all physical therapists regardless of years postlicensure. Three were “not important” for new graduate physical therapists. Consensus was not reached on 35 leadership competencies. Conclusions. Identification of leadership competencies for physical therapists is essential for role identity and to impact quality of care and the overall patient experience in physical therapy. Results of this paper provide a foundation for discussions on the adoption of a set of leadership competencies within the profession to guide leadership development within curricula for entry-level and professional development activities.

Physical therapists’ professional role identity in the clinician to leader transition

“…In contrast, the physical therapists in this study recognized the applicability of clinical skills directly to the practice of leadership. This finding supports current calls to include leadership as a component of the physical therapist professional role identity (Desveaux and Verrier, 2014; Green-Wilson et al , 2022; McGowan, 2017; McGowan and Stokes, 2015, 2017; Rasmussen-Barr et al , 2019; Sebelski et al , 2020; Tschoepe et al , 2021). Despite increasing support in the research, the recent core competencies of PT practice released by the American Council on Academic Physical Therapy and the American Physical Therapy Association fail to include leadership (Knox et al , 2022).…”

“…Developing a better understanding of how physical therapists make meaning of their professional role identity during the transition to leadership holds implications for the education and professional development of physical therapists. An improved understanding of this phenomenon will also inform current efforts to better incorporate leadership into the professional role identity of the physical therapist (Sebelski, 2017; Sebelski et al , 2020; Tschoepe et al , 2021). The purpose of this study was to investigate how physical therapists make meaning of their professional role identity when transitioning from clinician to leadership positions.…”

A Model of Practices of Exemplary Clinical Education Leaders

“…It is possible that possession of these specific leadership skills may be the difference between longstanding and successful DCEs and SCCEs versus those who are not. As one cannot assert that leadership skills are unique to those who successfully persist in 15,16 through ongoing professional development. 17 e ACAPT Leadership Compass 17 and the text by Green-Wilson 16 provide a wealth of resources and information related to personal leadership development.…”

“…26,27 Clinical instructors are often recruited into SCCE or DCE positions, with little to no formal preparation and training. 6,7,10 While it would be anticipated that CIs possess the broad leadership competencies described in the literature for PTs in general, 15 the literature exploring experienced or exemplary CIs does not explicitly describe their unique leadership skills. [26][27][28][29] ere is emerging, but limited, discussion of leadership as an essential element of the CI role.…”

“…In spite of a recent focus on leadership in many aspects of PT education and practice, [15][16][17] there has been little exploration specifically related to CE leadership. e literature is largely focused on the roles and responsibilities of DCEs and PDs rather than characteristics and traits that contribute to success and perseverance in these positions.…”