Professionalisation of operating department practice: an evolutionary perspective

The health care professionals staffing the operating theatres of UK hospitals are pursuing a professionalisation agenda based around increasing the academic level of the credential required for entry to their professional register. This paper explores the impact of this on registered Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) and Theatre Nurses by proposing a theory of professionalisation as an inter- and intra-professional evolutionary process, which resonates with the Red Queen's Hypothesis. The findings show how registered professionals carry out a benchmarking exercise to determine the most suitable route of professional development. The ODPs and nurses who decide to participate in credentialised continuing professional development do so to remain competitive with the new breed of graduates entering the profession. However, their continued study only serves to bring them to the level of the new breed professionals; they are running fast to stand still. We explore and comment on the ripple of behaviours the rise in academic credential produces.