Clinical Fieldwork Manual

Download or read book Clinical Fieldwork Manual written by Guerdy Jeanty and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The occupational therapy profession is currently experiencing a severe decline in the number of clinical fieldwork settings and fieldwork educators willing to supervise students who will become the future occupational therapists (OTs). The unwillingness of occupational therapists to act as mentors or fieldwork educators for occupational therapy students has been increasingly detrimental to the profession and has begun to create a vicious cycle of negative effects in the United States and globally. Fieldwork education is the element that bridge students from classrooms to service delivery settings. There are few students that describe the factors influencing OTs' disinclination to serve as fieldwork educators (FWEs). Ten out of 20 studies have considered the barriers and benefits for FWEs to provide mentorship for level II OT students to decrease this fieldwork educational crisis. These studies have expounded on factors explicating FWEs willingness to supervise OT level II students and the need to increase fieldwork education opportunities for the students. Personal and professional factors, including students' lack of foundational documentation skills, communication skills, ethics, and lack of readiness to particiapte in practical clinical skills have influenced FWEs willingness to accept students. Other factors have included academic and facilities constraints. These identifiable factors are such as physical supports and resources, time allotment in the clinician's schedule, self-assessment tools for students and FWEs were cited in many of the studies. Detailed fieldwork manuals aligned with practice objective were considered vital also. Fieldwork education is a catalyst in closing the existing gap between theory and practice and it gives OT students opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge to clinical practice. FWEs have stated that even witht he decline in clinical fieldwork settings, barriers in the form of the lack of necessary resources available to FWEs will prevent them from assuming their role. The fieldwork manual will provide FWEs with resources and guidelines to evaluate students' performance and to maximize their educational experiences during the fieldwork placement. The fieldwork manual will also provide a thorough background in relevant policies, procedures, and processes to assist OT students to develop into a confident entry level practitioners.