Year 2: Week 37-40: PP4: Part One

PP2.1-4: Getting the hang of it all...

I am well into my final placement and I'm exhausted. Acute Oncology is challenging on so many levels... It's fast paced, emotionally draining and physically hard work. But I love it. I am really enjoying the mix of physical and psychological aspects and it feels much more holistic than other acute settings. 

I have been getting to jump in and use my core OT skills and I'm thankful to be in such a supportive team that are willing to challenge me and give me opportunities to learn and develop my skills. Both my educators are working with me to help consolidate my skills as I prepare to transition from student to NQOT, which still feels like a massive jump but I'm getting there.  

4/10 weeks complete - It's going so fast.

_____________________________________________________________________

What else has been going on:


In other news we got our dissertation results back...

                     It was a pass!

... and  for once I am actually really pleased with my result and feedback. I put so much into that piece into that research, so I'm glad that it paid off. 


In #OTalk news... Kirstie has joined the team as the new #OTalk intern, If you haven't met her on twitter already, why not say hi. 


#OTalk next week is also going to be live from #COT2016 so if you are around do come to the meet up in person and then join us on line from 8pm. #OTalkonTour



For more insight into my journey to become an occupational therapist; follow me on twitter: @OTontheTracks

Year 2: Week 35-36 - Placement Prep

A weekend to recover after handing in my dissertation and then my brain was turned back on, as we were back into university for our final placement launch session. 

Placement Prep:

This final placement a big step in that it is the start of our transition from students to qualified OTs, which Tryssennar and Perkins (2001) cited in Morley 2006 highlights as the first stage in the transition process and hopefully start our first posts (very scary thought at the moment).

The aims of this placement are, for us to meet the practice requirements required to be eligible for HCPC registration as an occupational therapist. We also need to demonstrate safe, effective and client centred case management skills, by holding an ongoing caseload. We also need to be able to articulate and justify our professional role confidently within a range of settings As we start the transition from student to qualified OT we need to be able to be proactive in taking responsibility for our time, support networks and CPD by making use of opportunities available to us on placement and be to evaluate our own knowledge base and performance to further enhance learning and effectiveness within the work base setting through being critical and reflective of our practice. 

For anyone who hasn't heard about my final placement setting... I am spending 10 weeks in acute oncology. Oncology and Palliative care is an area of practice I have a keen interest in working in and I am looking forward to the challenges and learning I'll encounter as I use and develop my skills in a busy acute environment.

Placement Visit:

As part of my preparations for this placement, I went in to visit my placement for the morning last month and chatted to my educator, this was a really positive experience as it allowed me to gather information on what sort of preparation to do prior to starting on the placement and get an idea of what a typical day would include. I also benefited from speaking to the current band 5 who was on rotation in the department about the prep she had done prior to rotating and whether there was any areas she wished she had looked at in more detail prior to starting the rotation. 

Pre Placement Reading:

The visit guided my reading over the last few weeks, and I’m thankful that I chose to use acute oncology for my viva topic earlier in the year as this also gave me a basis of knowledge and resources to use as a starting point as well. On the advice of the band 5, I spent some time looking at the impact treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy and how these treatments and the side effects can impact on occupational performance.   I have also found the following two books really useful as I prepped for this placement:

• Cooper, J. (Ed.). (2013). Occupational therapy in oncology and palliative care. John Wiley & Sons. 
• Boog, K. M., & Tester, C. Y. (2008). Palliative care: a practical guide for the health professional: Finding meaning and purpose in life and death. Elsevier Health Sciences.

It has felt like a really long block in uni this term so I’m looking forward to being back in a clinical environment as a way to consolidate my learning by linking the theory and practice but mostly so that I can enable people do the things that are important and meaningful to them.

As with all my placements I may do small updates throughout and then round up with a longer reflective piece at the end. I have found the small updates increasingly hard as I have gone through placements so I'm not promising to do them every week this time. I will update when I can and then aim to do the round up towards the end.

What else have I been doing over the last few weeks:

COT Website Consultation 

I managed to squeeze in attending the COT website consultation whilst it was in Edinburgh the other week, which was really interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result as there were some really good ideas, and it was really interesting to hear how OTs in practice and students in the area use (or try to use) the website resources within their practice. 

Helping at MSc Interviews:

Last week also gave me a chance to help out at the MSc interviews again. I helped out last year as well, and its a really good chance to chat to perspective students and give them some information about studying on the course. 

It was really interesting this year to actually reflect on how far Ive come in even in just the last year since I helped last time. I remember last time feeling still very overwhelmed by what was to come on the course, I was in the middle of my research proposal and wondering how I was going to manage another year on the course, with the lack of reserves in energy.  But this time I could actually reflect on how much I have learnt and how the experiences on the course have enabled me to develop as a practitioner and prepare me to practice. It's a hard course! You will be pushed further than you ever thought you could! You'll want to quit! But you know what I have developed so much as a person whilst journeying through the process and I'm sure that will continue during the last leg of the course... 

So... One Placement... & One Viva... to go! 

For more insight into my journey to become an occupational therapist; follow me on twitter: @OTontheTracks

References

Morley, M. (2006). Moving from student to new practitioner: The transitional experience. The British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69(5), 231-233.

Reflections on Attending and Presenting at #uocOT 2016

Reflections on Attending and Presenting at #uocOT 2016

Thinking back to this time last year, at the very beginning of my research journey, I remember attending the 2nd year's dissertation research conference and feeling inspired, considerably apprehensive about the roller coaster of a journey that was to come, but excited to jump on board and get started. 

One year on, and I'm well on the way to finishing my research write up as part of my dissertation and it was our turn to present our findings within the MScOT Student Research Conference. There was some live tweeting throughout the conference which you can have a look at if you are interested by checking the hashtag #uocOT. You can also see a full transcript over on healthcare hashtags. 

I thought I would document some of my take home thoughts from the keynotes and some of the research presented within the sessions.

NB: Views and reflections are my own but will have been impacted by discussions and interactions throughout the day. I have used tweets to help illustrate thoughts and views and where possible I have referenced these at the end of the blog post.

Morning Keynote: Anna Clampin "Research and Evidence – tools for a Profession’s development?"


Anna Clampin gave a brilliant keynote within the morning session, highlighting the importance of us as clinicians being able to innovate and use the tools we have available to us. She also highlighted the importance of evidencing the difference we can make as the occupational therapy profession. She also challenged us to think are we to casual in our approach to shouting about what we do? Are we communicating what we do as occupational therapists or where we CAN go in our profession?

#uocOT twitter feed

She also highlighted the importance of networking and sharing, making those connections is key if we are to have influence on a local, national and global level. I took away from this session. Being able to influence the contexts we work within is so important as we strive to utilise occupational therapy to its full potential in benefiting the individuals and communities we can and will work with. We have a responsibility to develop, share and utilise the evidence base within our clinical work and as well as a profession as a whole if we are to communicate the value we can contribute within changing contexts and priorities. 

#uocOT twitter feed

It's always great to hear from occupational therapists that have a large array of experience in a mix of clinical practice, research, as part of the professional body and education as it allows me as a complete novice to see the potential and they huge possibilities there are for me within the profession I am part of.







Extra Thoughts: Professor Diane Cox


I say this quite a lot in my blog posts, but we really do have some amazing researchers on staff at the University of Cumbria who inspire and share their clinical experience with us. It was great to hear about all the different clinical areas and opportunities Diane has had within her career so far. 

We are encouraged to say yes to opportunities, even if it feels scary. Just what you need to hear 15 mins before you present your research findings to a group of your peers! But seriously a key take home message as I begin my career as an OT: There will be opportunities and if we are going to continue to increase the knowledge of occupational therapy within the wider contexts we work within and help impact on policy and best practice we need to be able to be brave and say YES! when we are given opportunities.


Presenting my research - Attitudes to Social Media use as a platform for CPD


As part of #uocOT, each of our cohort had to present our research findings, to a small group of our peers. This was a really exciting opportunity after we have spend so long reading the background preparing and carrying out our own

research. 

Apart from it being one of the most nerve-racking things I've done (see previous blog posts on the challenges I have with public speaking), On reflection, it was actually a really positive experience (and I never thought I would EVER be writing that).

As this was part of our dissertation module as a formative assessment, our peers and the tutor in the room gave feedback on our presentation and the content, which has been a great way of increasing my confidence that I do actually understand my research findings and can communicate them verbally.

It was a really positive to see on my feedback forms that others could see my passion for the topic, because I had been so worried about actually presenting the content, Im hadn't really thought past getting the words out my mouth, never mind sharing the passion I had on the utilisation of social media within CPD.

Lots on learning points on presenting too - such as speaking a little slower and louder, but considering how nervous I felt when i was speaking I think that was almost acceptable at this point.


Thankfully I was first to present in our group, so felt able to really listen and get to grips with everyone else's research, here are a couple (I'm being good and picking a couple as all of the presenters I heard had really interesting and relevant research) from my group that I found really interesting:


Catrin Williams: 'The benefits of crafts as a therapeutic tool in the rehabilitation of older adults'.


This was a really interesting presentation, in that as Catrin has been in my learning set this term, I have had a few discussions with her throughout her research process about how she was getting on with what she was doing. It has always struck me the passion she has for the use of craft within occupational therapy practice. 

#uocOT twitter feed

The use of craft within physical occupational therapy does appear to be happening and I think its key that we continue to recognise the therapeutic use to our service users. 


Take home thought: As long as we as OTs can justify the need to use crafts to benefit our service users, it is still a tool that should be utilised. 




Graeme Poulton: 'Investigating the reasons men study occupational therapy: Implications for recruitment' 


Graeme was sharing his research on the reasons males choose to study occupational therapy. I was interested in this, particularly as I have an interest in the education side of occupational therapy practice. Part of his findings highlighted the lack of knowledge of occupational therapy within male school leavers within his respondents. 

Graeme also highlighted that this may be an issue with the publicity and awareness of the profession more widely. I wonder what impact this has on the people we have both currently and will have in the future, training in our profession. Are we missing a whole host of individuals that have great transferrable and innovation skills, who are simply unaware of what occupational therapy is and what we do?


Take home thought: What can I do to improve this as a practitioner? Relating it back to this mornings keynote, who do I need to contact with to influence change, what opportunities do I need to say yes to make an impact on this?


Afternoon Keynote: Allan Brownrigg ‘Don’t cut me out’ young people, self-harm and recovery'


Our afternoon keynote was also really enlightening, as it was great to hear about Alan Brownrigg's research journey. It was also brilliant to hear from another messy literature searcher and that was not necessarily seem as a negative. I was really interesting in his PHD research into young people and self harm recovery and i'm looking forward to it being published so that the evidence based can benefit from it. 


Again we were challenged in how we will practice. We need continue to create the evidence base and not just go by 'business as usual'  



Closing Remarks: Dr Karen Morris 


The day was summed up well by Karen, as she again reiterated the importance of research within our practice and the importance of being aware of not just going along with the flow because 'it's always been done that way'. 



As nearly qualified OTs that can feel like a big challenge... but as evidence based practitioners striving to do the best for our service users, would we want it any other way? 

Massively proud of the rest of the cohort!
We have come so far in last few years. 

References: 


Brownrigg A (2016) ‘Don’t cut me out’ young people, self-harm and recovery'[Keynote Lecture to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. . University of Cumbria. 6th April.

Clampin, A (2016) "Research and Evidence – tools for a Profession’s development?" [Keynote Lecture to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria. 6th April

Cox, D. (2016) 6 April. Available at: https://twitter.com/dianecox61 (Accessed 06 April 2016).

Cox, D (2016) [Post Keynote Remarks to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria. 6th April.

Healthcare Hashtags (2016) #uocOT Transcript (2016) Available at: http://embed.symplur.com/twitter/transcript?hashtag=uocOT&fdate=04%2F05%2F2016&shour=07&smin=25&tdate=04%2F07%2F2016&thour=00&tmin=00 (Accessed: 6 April 2016).

Jones, V.  (2016) 6 April. available at: https://twitter.com/Vicky_Jones_89 (Accessed 7 April 2016)

Morris, K (2016) 'MScOT Student Conference: Book of Abstracts and Conference Proceedings',  HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria.

Morris, K. (2016) 6 April. Available at: https://twitter.com/morrisKOT (Accessed 6 April 2016)

Poulton, G.. (2016) [Presentation to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria. 6th April.

Wallcook, S. (2016) 6 April. Available at: https://twitter.com/sarah_wallcook (Accessed 6 April 2016)

Williams, C. (2016) [Presentation to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria. 6th April.

Year 2: Week 17 & 18 - Research Head is on!

I clearly should have stated at the start of this year I'd do fortnightly updates instead of weekly as I am finding it hard to make time every week, with deadlines looming...

The last few weeks have seen everyone start to focus on their dissertation as well as get stuck into our newest module.  I'll give you a brief update on both:

Dissertation:

So I finished collecting my data before Christmas, but it's still sitting waiting to be be analysed - that is the next few weeks plan. I have been spending the last few weeks working out what I can use in my research portfolio (which makes up half the dissertation module, but is just pass or fail). I am reassured that apparently we will have been doing the things we need to add to it, we just need to work out what they are. I have a supervision next week so hopefully I will feel more in control after that.

I also need to look at my lit review which will form part of my article (the other half of the module where are mark is determined). I have spend the last few days looking at my proposal feedback more closely to work out where I can improve it before cutting it down and rewording it (the joys of self plagiarism...)

In hindsight I wish I had focused on this before Christmas but with placement, its hard to find the time and energy to work on a lit review.

Occupational Design:

Its been a busy too weeks preparing for our formative assignment which took the form of a detailed session plan for the intervention we are hoping to undertake in the next month or so. It has been really interesting to look at the evidence behind our intervention and explore a more role emerging OT role within our chosen setting, It has really made me appreciate how varied our role as OTs can be, and just how diverse our skills are and how they can be used in different ways.

I'll share more about this after we have undertaken the intervention as our ideas are still forming and changing in line with the evidence base and risk assessment.


I think life is going to feel even busier when we start our last module next week - Developing OT Practice. It looks to be a really helpful as we start our transition from student to practitioner, so I'm looking forward to get going with it.

PP3 - Reflections on Inpatient Mental Health Rehab

Practice Placement 3

Personal Reflections

It's amazing how much difference a year makes. During first year I always dreaded the change of placement. I was excited to learn and enthusiastic to get going, but I had this dread that I'd be overwhelmed by the experience and I didn't have the skills I needed. 

Don't get me wrong I know this is completely natural and I did have some of this feeling as I started PP3 as it was my first mental health placement, but for once I was looking forward to embracing the challenge. Im thankful to have been in a really supportive team that were able to support me to embrace the challenges and new experiences within the setting. 

This placement was our first at level 6 so again it did feel like a bit of a leap from our last placement, with little uni contact in-between (This is one of the hardest aspects of the MSc, that the way our course works with uni/placement blocks we don't have much time in university between our placements as you would have on the undergraduate course). 

With the support of my educator within my first supervision, I refined my learning objectives for the placement to include aspects of group work, assessment and 1 to 1 interventions, which included:

• Planning and leading a group
• Managing a caseload
• Undertaking assessment and interventions

By splitting the objectives into the three sections it enabled me to see the key aspects that I can talk about in interviews, which is a positive at this point in my course. I was surprised how easily the skills I had learnt during my physical placements were adaptable to a mental health setting, which gave me ample opportunity to grade and adapt activities for the clients I was working with. 

I  was lucky to experience   placement in  setting that utilised  an  occupational therapy model to guide their practice as well, as I was beginning to think I never would.  The trust    in which my placement was  set, were utilising MOHO and therapy staff throughout the trust had been given ongoing training as this was integrated into their assessments. For me as a student this  was ideal as it meant my educator and the other OTs within the team were really knowledgeable and chilling to answer my endless questions. More importantly though I could see how the use of the MOHO assessment tools enabled them to communicate the  value of OT within the MDT .

The Role of OT within Inpatient Mental Health Rehab

Within the rehab unit for individuals with complex mental health conditions,  the OT role was  valued and heavily integrated into the team decision making  and  the clients care plans. It was  great to  see on the most part the the team understood occupational therapy's unique and important  role in the rehabilitation of the individuals on the unit. 

I spent a time reflecting on activity provision and whether that is the OTs role. Historically  within mental health settings, OTs have utilised    activities within their  treatment and I could see how practically this was still done. I was also  glad to see that   the  health care assistants, valued activities as an important part of the daily routine, meaning the OTs could intern focus on using activities therapeutically as appose to doing activity for activity's sake.; because that isn't our role, we aren't red coats  their to entertain.  When we are using activities, we are using them for the therapeutic value and assessment ; utilising our skilling in grading and adapting to increase and individuals independence . 

The OTs within the team, were exactly that, counted within the team ,  which at times  meant the OTs needed to be assertive about their role so that they could have the necessary time to  undertake and write up assessments and plan for patients  progress.  But being counted in the numbers and being on the floor throughout the day, did have  a lot of advantages for example the shift patterns allowed the OTs to be around during the morning personal care and the evening routines to  build the rapport with  clients and understand how they undertook their routines. 

Personal Reflections Continued...

Im sure you can tell from my blog posts, that I had a really positive experience on this placement and passed it. I had the chance to plan group sessions, utilise MOHO assessment tools, work with a great bunch of clients and staff and start to get to grips with the role of occupational therapy with mental health settings. 

I had lots of opportunities to step outside my comfort zone, by leading groups and speaking within MDT meetings. I also had a chance to reflect on the flexible nature required to work within a mental health setting, and how no matter how much planning you do for group intervention or even a 1 to 1 meeting... on the day the service users may just decide they don't want to do it, and you just have to make the best of it. 

I received some really positive feedback from my educator about working at band 5 level in a lot of the aspects of my placement and I received positive feedback from the management of the unit which has helped my confidence in my ability to do the role and I'm looking forward to undertaking my last placement at the end of May. I hope to build on the positive experiences I have had on this placement and continue to develop my skills and particularly my ability to discuss occupational therapy interventions within the MDT. 

Again I'm reminded of the Benjamin Spock quote, as I move onto the next hurdles of university...

Now it's time to buckle down and get on with analysing my research data for my dissertation module and embrace the start of the last two modules of the course as the start over there course of January.

For more insight into my journey to become an occupational therapist; follow me on twitter: @OTontheTracks

Year 2: Week 12 & 13: PP3.5+6

The final 2 weeks of placement started off rather quietly due to #StormDesmond causing flooding in Cumbria - meaning I was stranded in Edinburgh since there were no trains running on the West Coast main line... If thats not an nudge to learn to drive don't know what is?!

I used my days away from placement to work on a case study as I wasn't sure how long I would be stuck in Edinburgh and I wanted to be using the time productively to meet my assessment outcomes. This wasn't on my learning contract but I felt that adapting ways of showing my learning was really important with the uncertainty of the weather. Utilising the case study helped me link the theory behind MOHO to an individual in practise to understand what assessment tools where used and why. 

Thankfully I only missed a couple of days and was glad to get back down, to get on with the practical aspects of placement. The rest of the week focused on a practical AMPS assessment and activity analysis of making a cup of tea with a client and writing up assessments from the end of the previous week. I also had an opportunity to accompany one of the other OTs on a social/welfare visit to client on home leave which was really interesting and a great opportunity to see one of the clients in there own home, this also helped me understand how they can manage positive risk taking with clients in this setting. 

The last week of placement was filled with lots of activities such as Christmas wreath making, baking and an inter-ward mince pie competition. Some of the activities were more successful than others but all in all a great last week.

As I've said before, I will be posting a longer summary of the whole placement in the coming weeks. But for now I'm happy to share I passed this placement and had such a great experience with the team in this setting, I really didnt want to finish this placement as I really did feel part of the team.