Placement has been the most interesting part of the course for me, with real life experience and the ability to look back and reflect on how far you’ve come. When you think you aren’t getting anywhere, just remember to look back on that very first lecture where you’re told you will need to know an entire anatomy textbook cover to cover by the end of the term. You got through all of that so you can definitely survive placement. One of the most challenging situations I have had on placement is one that appears to be relatively common- a ward that is short staffed.
To give you the context of my experience of this; I was in a large ward with mostly oncology patients, often presenting with non-routine and complex issues. I was quite daunted by all of this but I had found in my previous placements that my educators had been so supportive and always there for me, so I thought I had nothing to worry about.
However on the first day I was told my educator only works 2 days a week and was leaving halfway through my placement. The first thing that sprang to mind is something I’m sure most students would worry about- how are they going to give me a placement mark?! I won’t have any continuity!
For the first week a junior physiotherapist on the same floor covered his ward, and the one I was on to support me on the days that my educator was not in. However, as winter pressures increased on the junior physiotherapists ward, and my confidence and competence improved, the support became less. In week two of my placement I realised I had worked the whole day without speaking to another physiotherapist. At this point I realised I was out of my practice scope and potentially unsafe. I knew I needed to bring this up with my educator for future days that she did not work. Having the confidence to know that I could approach this with my educator is something I would certainly have struggled with on my first placement due to not wanting to appear as thought I was complaining or incompetent. Firstly, I spoke to the junior physiotherapist who I was most comfortable with and then both he and I spoke to my educator and her senior together to see what could be done. They reassured me that they had a new physiotherapist starting in week 3 who could support me on the days they were short staffed. Looking back, bringing up this issue was the best thing I could have done. When the new starter started, he was immediately placed with me and I ended up showing him around the ward.
Having the confidence to broach the subject meant that during the second half of my placement, the amount of learning I took from the new starter was more than I could have ever imagined. It also meant that when he started, I had become autonomous with many different patients on the ward during the first three weeks. This has been my favourite placement so far, the amount of learning I took from it was amazing and my confidence both with patients and with colleagues increased so much. In my final feedback they stated how impressed they were at how confident I was in showing the new starter how the ward works and how I had appeared part of the team.
My advice to anyone in this situation is to stick to your gut. If you think you’re acting out of your scope never be afraid to speak up. They respected me far more for saying I needed more support than continuing without speaking up and ending up being unsafe or making mistakes whilst alone.
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