CHAPTER TWO How to prepare for placement
Clinical placements are one of the most exciting and enjoyable parts of your training as a physiotherapist. Placements provide the opportunity to develop and enhance your patient handling, problem solving, communication and team working skills, and to apply all of your theoretical knowledge as well as gain lots of new knowledge.
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) states that to qualify as a physiotherapist you need a minimum of 1000 hours of practise- based learning to prepare you for professional practise (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy 2005). To some this may be adequate in order to build enough confidence in your own ability, get out there on your own and go for it. For the majority of others it just doesn’t seem like enough time. Therefore, it is really important to make the most of every one of those 1000 hours and one way to achieve this is to do some placement preparation. Investing some time into getting ready for your placement will prevent you playing catch up on theoretical knowledge when you’re working full time as a student physiotherapist, trying to process all the new clinical knowledge that you will be gathering daily.
Where to get information on your placement
Placement profiles
Some universities have a profile for each placement. This should give details of type of placement you are going on, the address of where the placement is and how to get there, the name and contact details of who your clinical educator(s) will be, hours of work, accommodation if applicable, educational facilities, local information (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy 2003), possibly some recommended reading, and the types of conditions you will be seeing.
Your clinical educator
If he or she is happy to be contacted, call your clinical educator and make the most of the opportunity by writing down some specific questions before you phone. This is especially useful if the person you get on the other end of the phone is not volunteering much information. Examples of the things to ask about include: what types of patients or common injuries/conditions you will be dealing with; how many physiotherapists there are in the team; whether you will be seeing a patient on the first day or not; if there is anything they suggest you look over beforehand or any recommended textbooks or journal articles; what texts and other resources are available at the placement site; where and what time do you report on your first day; if there are any specific uniform requirements; what changing facilities are available and whether to bring a padlock. For infection control reasons you must change into uniform on site.
What do you need to know before placement?
Housekeeping information, for example: address of hospital; how you are going to get there; if there is somewhere to get lunch or do you need to take it; what you are expected to wear as uniform.
Surgical respiratory
Pre- and post-operative respiratory assessment, including chest X-ray interpretation and arterial blood gas normal values and interpretation.
Harden B. Emergency Physiotherapy. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2004.
Hough A. Physiotherapy in Respiratory Care – An Evidence Based Approach to Respiratory and Cardiac Management, 3rd edn. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes, 2001.
Pryor J.A., Prasad S.A. Physiotherapy for Respiratory and Cardiac Problems, 3rd edn. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2002.
Kenyon J., Kenyon J. The Physiotherapist’s Pocket Book. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2004.
