Audionomens syn på sin yrkesutövning mot bakgrund av nuvarande lagstiftning och riktlinjer

Abstract

Since April 1, 2006, audiologists have had the right to obtain a license. A license may be revoked if the holder is considered unsuitable for the job. This is one of the reasons why we consider studying what the audiologists think of the demands on them to be of interest.

The purpose of this study was to examine the audiologists’ views on the exercise of their profession in the light of the present laws and guidelines.

A qualitative method, inspired by the fenomenologic tradition, was choosen for this study. In the study interviews were conducted with five audiologists who work with diagnosis and rehabilitation at different hospitals in Western Sweden.

From the interviews we constructed ten descriptive cathegories which deal with views on demands, conditions, the will to work as demanded and on the continued development of the profession.

Our results show that the audiologists feel that they have been given a personal responsibility for their work. The audiologists believe that they are given the basic conditions for meeting the demands put on them, although they have felt that these conditions have been changing for the worse and they express an unease about the conditions continuing to detoriate. We argue that the audiologists’ wish for common guidelines for the exercise of their profession to be developed can be seen as an answer to the present situation, were the audiologists see the common guidelines as a means to be able to live up to their personal responsibilities.