225 hours down... 775 to go!

Onwards and upwards...

My leaving card from the team - full of lovely messages.

Practice Placement 1 complete!

After five weeks of working within the community therapy team I feel like I have learned so much! I felt really quite sad to be leaving as I had been made so welcome over the past few weeks by the team and have been offered a wide variety of experiences which I have taken a lot from! I feel this placement has given me a good base and understanding for my future in OT.

My final week saw me engaging in more varied initial assessments, writing up notes, observing a variety of seating assessments and attending a training session on how to prepare and support individuals on hip precautions (putting my tape measure to good use!) This made me feel quite relieved as I was nervous regarding the aspect of measuring in OT (anyone that knows me well will know I am useless when it comes to numbers) But actually, it was a lot more simple than I thought!

I also had the opportunity to spend a morning working on one of the local hospital rehab wards. This was definitely an eye opener for me and somewhere that I felt very out of my comfort zone! I would like to spend more time within a hospital setting to experience and get to grips with OT from a different perspective. Although I initially do feel that the hospital would not be my preferred working environment - but we shall see if my opinion changes along the way!

The team made me feel very special on my last week - we had a buffet lunch and I was given lovely gifts and messages from everybody.

Needless to say we were all stuffed after lunch!

Back to reality

I have now returned back home from my student halls room. It is so nice to be back with my home comforts and this weekend I have caught up with friends and allowed myself to relax a little. Although as another deadline looms in the very near future I have also been busy with my assignment and the reality of returning to university later this week is apparent as the tutors keep adding to the fast growing pile of preparation we have for our new module and classes, of which I am still yet to look at properly! As my diary space lessens with many classes and commutes I am feeling a little anxious as I know the next couple of months are going to be very intense and tiring. However, now equipped with the knowledge and confidence I have gained from placement and the encouragement from passing my first assignment I will grab the opportunity with both hands - I can do it!

Deep breath in..... here it goes. Term number two I'm coming to get you!

Week 4

Week 4 of placement has been another snowy one but a good one. I'm starting to feel more confident and as I said in my previous post - i'm really starting to think and understand how to think like an OT. I was able to share some problem solving ideas with patients and their families during some visits this week to which they seemed impressed! I'm finally beginning to get more to grips with the huge array of different adaptive equipment also where and when they may be appropriate to use.

Week 4 saw me getting the opportunity to go out on some joint visits with the physio's and it was really interesting and insightful to see the assessment and intervention process from their perspective. On one occasion I began part of the initial assessment on my own under the supervision of the physio and this was a really good confidence boost that I was asking all of the appropriate questions etc. 

I also attended a training session about Metastatic Spinal cord Compression and this was very interesting and informative on the importance of spotting the signs and symptoms of this potentially devastating condition. 

It has been really good to do some follow up visits to patients to see their progress and ultimately follow the OT process in real life, not from a text book! It seems a shame that placement is now coming to an end when I've began building relationships in the work place as wells with clients! I have got to grips with writing up the initial assessment and other paperwork and have been writing plenty to make the most of the experience. It has also been really good to assist with paperwork to order different equipment - especially the more bespoke pieces of equipment and the clinical reasoning behind it.

This week I continued to prepare some visual daily routine prompts for the client I am supporting with memory and cognition problems due to MS. I created a weekly planner book which was individualised to their specific everyday activities. This was laminated to enable the use of dry wipe marker pens for carers to add on any other information about their day. I also simplified some of the basic instructions which had been hand written - to make them look neater, bolder and I also added small visual picture prompts.

I remember in my first week my educator told me that at the end of the placement I could go out on a visit with the TI and lead the visit myself... I remember being terrified of the thought! But look at me now. I contacted the patients family and arranged the visit also informing them of the progress of the assessment and intervention plans. I then went out with the TI to implement the visual structure I had created with the client and it went really well! I feel i've built up a relationship with the client over the very small amount of time I have been on placement and I really hope I have been able to make just that little bit of a difference to their life! 

I feel quite proud of myself that I have come so far over such a short space of time in my confidence and knowledge of applying theory to practice. I really feel I could be suited to community based OT, I do enjoy it a lot. My confidence was hugely boosted this week due to passing my first assignment!! After worrying and being so stressed about it, I feel I can relax a little more now and I've realised I CAN write at masters level and I am going to make a good OT.

Now to continue with the next assignment... 

As Dory once said.... "Just keep swimming"