PHYSIOTHERAPY PRACTICE

Physiotherapy Practice

Physiotherapy Practice

Learining Environment

This paper provides guidance on the Physiotherapy's expectations of learning in the practice environment (practice-based/clinical education elements) within education programmes leading to qualification as a physiotherapist. The document supplements, rather than replaces, expectations already set out in the Physiotherapy and Validation Procedures. The focus of the guidance is on how the profile of students' clinical experience is structured, mapped and recognised, taking account of current trends in health and social care organisation and related developments in chartered physiotherapists' roles and practice environments (Adam, 35).

The guidance rotates round the need for physiotherapy scholars to learn in perform backgrounds in ways that assist to their evolving productive clinicians who are adept to reply to the claims and responsibilities of autonomous perform on qualification. The guidance identifies the need for scholars to evolve their professional information, comprehending and skills within physiotherapy perform in ways that are flexible and creative and that contemplate alterations in how - and where - persevering care is delivered. The guidance therefore encourages a very wide, lateral approach to providing and supporting clinical discovering know-how in which a seamless integration of idea with perform can be achieved. It contends that students' learning experience cannot be organised in a mechanistic way, not least because the traditional concept of 'core areas' of practice is no longer relevant in contemporary physiotherapy education (Briggs, 59).

Critical reconsider of individual learning

Placements should no longer be mentioned to as 'core' and 'subsidiary'; rather than, it should be recognised that students gain experience in a variety of practice backgrounds and that their learning of physiotherapy perform can be accomplished through varied profiles of clinical experience. Learning in the practice environment should comprise a balance of experiences gained in a variety of settings; within this, some elements of practice should be seen as fundamental and should normally be addressed in every learning experience (Castledine, 288).

The outcomes of students' learning experience should generally be assessed by a physiotherapist, although the valuable role of other health and social care professionals in contributing to developing students' learning is strongly acknowledged (Diamond, 65). The ways in which students are supervised in the practice environment needs to develop as they progress through a qualifying programme so that they are enabled to develop the skills, understanding and aptitude required for future professional autonomy and effective caseload management (Neenan, 84). The majority of time students spend in the practice environment should be expended employed with people, and should include the undertakings recorded below.

Information retrieval

Hands on treatment

Clinical reasoning

Observation of surgical procedures

Inter-professional working

In-service education

Case conference/presentation

Writing reports

Liaising with other ones encompassing carers

Home visits

While the entire above are important to students' learning in the practice environment, it is essential that sufficient time is given to the development of physiotherapeutic skills. Students should be encouraged to map their experience in the practice environment and enabled to articulate the range of clinical learning they have derived from this across their qualifying education (Lunn, 770). Students need to come by a broad and complex variety of ...