Hello everyone ,
I am newly qualified and my first rotation is in an acute medical setting. I found myself pondering over my transitionary period and all the different conditions I am seeing. The positive and the negative and thought otherothers might be thinking the same and benefit from peer support through discussion.
@esther - that overwhelming feeling and responsibility surge is tough in the first few weeks of any job! Let alone your first as a newly qualified. So we hope you're taking time out to unwind between shifts :) (Meaningful leisure occupations?) As OTs, we strive to do our best - and are obviously caring people. It can be very easy to develop unrealistic expectations. It sounds like you are having good supervision contact in the early stages... So vital. Perhaps you could get a medical dictionary/get work to order one? Could be handy to dip into for the medical jargon! The OT Hub Team hubteam@theOThub.com
Thank you so much for starting this forum! I am a newly qualified and am in my sixth week of working in an acute hospital setting. I actually did a couple of acute hospital placements as a student however have still really struggled with the transition to newly qualified. I think partly I feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility and partly I have had to come to terms with having unrealistic expectations of myself.
Anyone else feeling overwhelmed with medical jargon? I think one of the best resources so far has definitely been having weekly supervision - although this has been hard some weeks due to the busy workload. And ongoing training, although this too can sometimes be overwhelming because I still don't feel like I've got to grips with 'the basics'...
Great forum @sjoccupationaltherapist! I'm interested to hear if - in the fast-paced and often more medical model-based acute setting - you as an occupational therapist feel you can maintain your professional identity? Do you ever find your role merges with others' in the MDT? Is the focus on meaningful occupation ever lost, in a world where hospital discharges and high-turnover caseloads need to be prioritised? Jamie Urgent Care Occupational Therapist (Rapid Response)
Hello @sjoccupationaltherapist, @louise_crisp and @stefdOT. Thanks for getting this new forum going! The transitional period from student to qualified occupational therapist can be a daunting one. From one day to the next, you go from supernumerary status to someone people look to for clinical reasoning. Whilst having a line manager, inductions and probation period are supportive, it's a steep learning curve. So it's great that you've chosen to start this supportive conversation going on the Hub! We've shared the post on social media - feel free to copy the link of the 'Start a new forum!' category, plus your forum title, to get OTs around the world talking! All the best,
The OT Hub Team hubteam@theOThub.com / www.theOThub.com/team
I started this concept on twitter where a question was raised ..
How do you, in an acute medical setting, explain the OT role to patients (& MDT)? I feel I could do more to promote the #ValueofOT. However, it’s tricky when the goal is discharge/downstream ward. It’s more hospital-dihospital-directed
rected than person-centred.
Hi there, thank you for starting this forum. I'm also a newly-qualified therapist and I'm working in an acute medical unit. I didn't have any placement experience in an acute setting so it's been a bit of a baptism of fire. I'm learning so much which is great, but I do often have to ask what feels like really basic OT questions. I'm finding the transition from student to practitioner a lot harder than I thought I would actually. I've been there a couple of months now and I'm only really starting to piece things together. I feel like a first-year student sometimes!