The Student Room Group

How to cope on placements!

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Hey Louloubella,
I'm starting an OT Bsc course in September :biggrin: I must admit I am more worried about the clinical placements than the academic work! Could you give me an idea of the types of placement you've done and what they expected of you?
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 61
Original post by herbal bug
1. Be prepared. Do a teeny bit of research into your current placement. There are so many bits and bobs you can start to grasp even before you start placement.
2. Enter the ward with a sense of humour. This will help, you with the staff and the patients. Some staff are very sarcastic so be aware, they don’t mean to insult you.
3. Don’t take anything negative to heart. Over the rest of you career you are likely to come across patients who will swear, punch, kick, insult you. It’s them or their diagnosis. Just take it with a pinch of salt and report it.
4. Following on...REPORT IT. If it’s not reported, it didn’t happen, and everything needs to be documented.
5. Be prepared to meet some characters. You will not like every patient you ever meet. You may have major problems with their character but remember you are a nurse; you cannot treat them any differently.
6. Physical health is you know is very important as you know. Carry a fob watch for the all important respiration rates and a note book so you can jot things down.
7. The HCAs are your friends. They are often more helpful than the actual nurses who are swum of their feet, who despite their best intentions cannot always supervise you. The HCAs are also very friendly and will watch out for you.
8. Ask questions, you are there to learn and do not feel ashamed pronouncing some of the drug names wrong. Believe me, the staff will help you through it and my current ward manager cannot say Haloperidol to save her life. To her it’s “Halodelalol”.
9. Go observe and sit in groups. Even if it isn’t branch specific, you may never get another chance. Also it uses up time if you are THAT bored.
10. You will learn about so different drugs. Keep your eye on the BNF, after all the medic may miss something and if that’s not important, you may save a patient.
11. Doctors can be your friend, make yourself available and ask questions. Some may ignore you; some may want you there and will teach you about any topic you ask.
12. Feel free to question diagnoses and other parts of a patient’s treatment if you feel like it is ignored or may be wrong. As long as you can back up your questions there is no harm done.
13. Smile. Patients respond well to a smile on your face and a cheesy Grin.
14. If there is no work in the office that needs doing, go into the day room. You learn so much from talking to patients, or even observing them watching the TV.
15. Enjoy it. You are only a student for three years; enjoy learning and the supernumerary status. You won’t ever get it back.:smile:


these appear really helpful! I am looking into mental health nursing however did work experience at a dementia care home and found it really difficult! should this affect my thoughts of a career in mental health nursing? what do you do now jobwise?
Reply 62
Original post by Cherry Black
Tips for Diagnostic Radiography students:

-Guard your markers with your life! It's a horrible feeling when you go to put a left marker on the cassette, and you've only got a right one.

-Be assertive with your positioning. If you move the patient's arm like it's made of unicorn's tears, they're less likely to cooperate, whereas if you assertively put it where you need it (you don't have to be aggressive, or hurt them, just confident) they're more likely to keep it in that exact position, because you mean business!

-If you're in a department where you get left by yourself a lot, don't take it personally. The radiographer might be there the whole time you're positioning, but as soon as you go to take the image, they've disappeared off the face of the earth. Worse still, that skyline knee was perfect when you set it up, but by the time you've found someone to check it, the patient has flopped their leg down and the radiographer now thinks you have no idea how to image knees. Don't worry! It happens, especially in busy departments. Just bite your tongue and move on.

-Treat everyone (not just qualified radiographers, but fellow students, APs, and other staff) as potential future colleagues, because they are! It doesn't matter if your placement is in Edinburgh, and you're hoping to work in Auckland, radiography is a relatively close knit community, and if you piss people off, word will get around, and by Sod's Law, that person will end up being your supervisor. Equally, try to make a good impression- we were told just after our first placement that opinions will have already been made as to whether we are considered good candidates for employment, and we've got three years to go yet!

-Show an interest! Even if you're terrified and want the ground to swallow you up, go get involved. Even if you're just handing cassettes or accessories to the radiographer, get in the room and see what's going on. You're more likely to be respected that way.

-If you see things in practise that you either don't agree with or things that clash with what you've been taught, don't say "we've been taught not to do that". If you feel you must question it at the time, word it differently "ooh that's an interesting method, I've not seen that done that way before..." and listen to their reasoning. Sometimes it's a bad habit, sometimes it's due to local rules. Otherwise, just make a mental note of it and ask your tutors when you see them. It's less likely to cause conflict this way- a long-qualified radiographer isn't going to take it very well when a first year student tells them they are wrong.

-However, if you are put in a situation which could adversely affect you, for example in fluoroscopy without appropriate protection, don't just play along! If there aren't enough lead aprons for you to have one, excuse yourself and go find one! Don't miss out on seeing really interesting procedures just because someone's nicked an apron. Equally, if there are no thyroid shields, ask where you might find another! You might get treated like a worry-wart, but this is YOUR SAFETY at stake, and hopefully you're going to be working with radiation for many many years to come, so it's best to look after yourself. It's in everyone's interests that you're safe: you don't want cancer, and the NHS really don't want you to get cancer- it'll be a waste of a radiography degree, and they'll have to treat you!

Last point (for now)- if you're in a department with quite a few students on placement, don't herd together! It's really intimidating for the patients and it's annoying for the staff. If you're assigned to be somewhere, and there's nothing happening, don't sprint back to be with your mates, it looks really bad and you could miss something interesting.

That stuff all sounds really negative, but it's not meant to be! Just enjoy your placements and make the most of your time in practise. It'll be over before you know it.


Lol now I understand when my ankle was being x rayed why the radiographer 'brutally' bent my ankle into position... lol... I didn't move it so it works! TBH if it was broken it prob wouldn't have hurt so much! Muscle and ligament tears are sooo much more painful!
Reply 63
I'm in nursing, but I believe this rule applies to all healthcare students: take everything you are taught with a pinch of salt I.e. think critically about it. We all make mistakes; your lecturers, mentors and even seasoned professionals, so never take advice without first filtering it through that useful little organ you have nestled in your skull.
Mostly for community placements and it helped me so much on my first day at placement!
As soon as you settle in, offer to make everyone a cup of tea!
It's a really good ice breaker, plus you get to know how everyone likes their brews!
This way when you're stuck for things to do etc, a tea round can really pass the time.
And the staff will love a good cup of tea, especially if they're busy.
Thanks for the tips - very handy. :smile:
Reply 66
Anyone help on placements for healthcare Science
I've been having my worst placement EVER at the end of my second year after having some fantastic and humbling experiences, this placement actually changed my perception of the nursing profession. thank you so much for this post, it may be what I need to get through the next two weeks!
I'm a first year radiography student, I'm starting my first placement Monday, any advice to someone who doesn't have a clue what they're doing?:colondollar:

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