En legitimations påverkan för professionen och för patienten En kvalitativ studie om hälso-och sjukvårdkuratorers syn på yrkeslegitimering

Sammanfattning: Healthcare social workers is currently undergoing a governmental legitimation process of its profession which places the profession in front of a new situation and new requirements. Our aim with this qualitative survey has therefore been to try to understand from active social workers in healthcare what importance legitimization has for both the own profession and the patients. Personal thoughts and perceptions have been collected through semistructured interviews with seven active social workers in healthcare. Our empirical material has been analyzed with theories of professionalization and professional development together with new institutional organization theory. The investigation concerns the relationship between the social worker with the social science background and the medical context that the social worker works in. The results showed that the legitimation were seen as strengthening the social workers profession in health and medical care. While legitimization may increase patient safety as the occupational group is under the supervision of the IVO, we perceive that there are currently no other aspects that increase patient safety. The social workers provide a summary of the fact that the workplace will not change through credentials but that the view of the healthcare provider may change over time.