Competency, capability and professional identity: the case for advanced practice

In the last 40 years, a series of models and frameworks associated with competency, capability and identity have been advanced in the published literature. These models and frameworks have arisen at a time of fundamental shifts in both the type and nature of work in developed countries, for example shifts associated with changes to labour markets from a reliance on jobs in agriculture and manufacturing (in the industrial era) to a reliance on jobs in both traditional and novel service industries (in the post-industrial and service eras) along with a rise in demand for work which requires non-routine cognitive abilities and attributes. Moreover, an increasing demand for advanced practitioners and leaders in every field of work has led to the advent of the so-called ‘advanced practice professional’, a practitioner who contributes higher order cognitive, affective and conative inputs to organisations and the world of work more generally. These fundamental shifts in work now require practitioners to not only have the competencies and capabilities to perform at a high level, but also require a well-developed sense of professional identity and an ability to contribute, as a discipline leader, in innovative ways to enhance organisational performance and the world of work more generally. This paper explores these propositions. We advocate a model of advanced practice professionalism in relation to competency, capability, and professional identity, and show through two real-world examples how work-based learning and research, as practiced by University of Southern Queensland in its Professional Studies program, contribute to the development of advanced practice professionals in Australia