OT Profile of Practice
This section is dedicated to recognizing how my personal and professional experience, specifically in regard to my Level 1 Clinical Placement allowed me to grow in the six different competency areas of the OT Profile.
Professional
"As a Professional, occupational therapists are committed to ethical practice and high personal standards of behaviour in enabling occupation" - CAOT
My experience: During my level 1 placement, specifically in regard to confidentiality, I have ensured to keep files or pages that contain defining patient information in safe areas such as a locked cabinet within our office OR when finished with these documents, they can either be sent off to be added to a patient's higher level of documentation or shredded in the hospital's shredder. I have learned that when discussing a patient, we often will refer to them as their initials and room number to protect the confidentiality of that patient throughout their stay (this is always important, but I find it is especially important since so many people know each other when they live in smaller towns and cities such as Antigonish - where I am from, or Kingston). In addition to my Level 1 Clinical Placement at PCH, I have had a variety of professional development opportunities such as job shadowing various OTs and other health professionals, my community development placement which was at the Providence Manor site (in Kingston), OSOT’s Conference Celebrating 100 years where I was able to participate in a variety of information sessions and I attended a splinting course that was held by Queen’s University for all MSc OT students in the Fall of 2021.
Future Learning: I will ensure that I am always up to date with the most current confidentiality and ethical processes at my future workplaces after graduation.
“Emma consistently adheres to professional confidentiality standards.”
- Level 1 preceptors
"She has consulted with physiotherapy, OTA/PTA and social work staff regularly, and is highly regarded by the staff on our unit.”
- Level 1 preceptors
“Emma naturally fits into an OT role, is professional and comfortable working with the clients. She presents herself with professionalism, she is reliable and she follows through on all of her commitments.”
- Level 1 preceptors
“Emma has begun to participate in treatment planning for clients, and is respectful of maintaining their confidentiality when sharing information in writing.”
- Level 1 preceptors
Communicator
"As a Communicator, the practitioner client relationship is central to occupational therapy. Communication includes oral, written, nonverbal, and electronic means."
- CAOT
My experience: During my Level 1 Placement at Providence Care Hospital, I had the opportunity to speak at a weekly rounds meeting, I completed multiple initial interviews with minimal supervision (week 4-6) and independently (week 6-8) to collect information about the client’s social history, medical history, home environment, hobbies/interests, etc. I learned how to input written information in the hospital’s electronic charting system, I interacted with caregivers and family members of clients regularly throughout their stay, and I also got to speak to a community OT to report information about a client during a transition meeting. I had the opportunity to share information at two family teleconferences with patients I had worked closely with in terms of equipment referrals to the SELHIN, what they were currently working on in therapy, and some of the gains they had made so far during their hospital stay. In terms of documentation, I became comfortable and independent with using the ePR system to input information to the initial assessment, complete my own progress notes using the DARP format, and I was able to input information to the initial assessment and discharge summary sections for both stroke and MSK patients that I worked with.
Future Learning: I hope to continue to learn how to communicate with a variety of populations (children, individuals with mental illnesses, non-verbal clients, visually impaired clients) as I get more exposure to different areas of Occupational Therapy.
“Emma participates in ongoing dialogue with her preceptors, is comfortable asking questions and readily discusses her observations. Emma has begun to link her observations with multiple theoretical frameworks, and has had regular discussions with her preceptors to solidify her learning.” - Level 1 preceptors
“Emma has continued to be a team player during the second half of placement. She has been able to participate in team discussions during both stroke and MSK IDCs to share updates about client information. She has prepared notes for and presented information appropriately during family conferences and CORP meetings for more than three different clients. She will follow-up with her preceptors to clarify information when needed, and is receptive to feedback.”
- Level 1 preceptors
“Emma has had additional opportunities to continue to work on her communication skills. She continues to interact well with clients, and has been able to build rapport with the clients she has worked with. It is evident that clients respect Emma, and treat her as a member of the team. They are able to ask her questions, as they would to her preceptors. Emma is client centered in her approach and very considerate of client needs. She has had regular daily verbal communication with clients, their families and the team. She has continued to play an active role in written communication with support for progress notes, initial assessments and discharge summaries as well as discharge planning (SELHIN documentation).”
- Level 1 preceptors
“Her confidence has improved and she continued to show a genuine interest in her learning throughout the placement. Her positive attitude, commitment to her role and enthusiasm have been inspiring. Staff and patients on L1 have embraced her as an essential team member.”
- Level 1 preceptors
Scholarly Practitioner
"As a Scholarly Practitioner, occupational therapists incorporate critique, reflection, and quality improvement in their everyday practice and through lifelong learning. As educators, occupational therapists facilitate learning with clients, team members, and other learners."
- CAOT
My experience: At the end of my Level 1 placement, I shadowed nursing, the SLP, the social worker, physiotherapy (including an exposure to the KINARM device/research and amputees), PTAs/OTAs, my preceptors (OTs in MSK and stroke), as well as an OT who focused on amputees. I attended a 'Stroke Survivor Group' with the social worker on our unit as well as a few patients who chose to attend and it was a very emotional yet uplifting experience to see faces on the other side of the zoom screen of stroke victims who were in PCH themselves not too long ago. These survivors act as inspiration to those in hospital that things will get better, this current state they are in is temporary and to remind them that they are not alone. I have also been able to help the SW with different tasks as a team member throughout my time at PCH with organizing duo-tangs for the stroke survivor groups, getting pages signed for a patient's photo to be submitted to a church group, etc. Throughout this placement, I have learned so much from each team member and I value the role of each person much more than when I initially started.
Future Learning: I hope to keep a journal or binder to reflect on my practice and document my clinical reasoning processes, especially for the first 5 years of clinical practice as a certified OT. I want to ensure that I have someone that I can report to in my first official job or some sort of mentor that I can check in with regularly to back up the decisions and care plans I create for clients.
Collaborator
"As a Collaborator, occupational therapists work effectively with key stakeholders to enable participation in occupations by using and promoting shared decision-making approaches."
- CAOT
My experience: During my Level 1 Placement at Providence Care Hospital, I had the opportunity to collaborate with the inter-professional team at Lakeview 1 by speaking and listening at weekly rounds meetings, I collaborated with clients for assessments and interventions throughout their day, I collaborated with the caregivers and family members, and I also got to collaborate with a community OT outside of the PCH setting to report information about a client during a transition meeting to ease their relocation home in the community setting.
Future Learning: In my next placement, I plan to verbalize my preferred learning style within the first week to get the most out of my placement. As a future OT on an inter-professional team, I want to take the time to meet individually with each of my co-workers to determine their preferred means of communication in the workplace.
“Emma has continued to develop and strengthen her therapeutic relationship with clients in the second half of her placement at PCH. She presents herself in a well-prepared, confident manner in client interactions”
- Level 1 preceptors
"Emma participated in the group discussions well, she initiated discussions and followed through on her roles. Emma was a warm leader, and providing non-verbal feedback throughout the session. She smiled and nodded throughout the session at appropriate times to encourage the participants as they were sharing. Emma showed great professionalism and leadership throughout the entirety of our group experience."
-Peers (OT 852 Feedback Fruits)
“Emma has done an excellent job consolidating her skills in all competencies working with patients with Orthopaedic and Stroke/neurological presentations, their families and staff on the L1 inpatient rehabilitation unit [...].”
- Level 1 preceptors
“Emma is able to be flexible and is a valued member of the MSK and Stroke inter-professional teams.”
- Level 1 preceptors
Change Agent
“As a Change Agent, occupational therapists use their expertise and influence responsibly to advance occupation, occupational performance, and occupational engagement."
- CAOT
My experience: By the end of my Level 1 placement, I felt that my compassionate, outgoing, and personable personality helped me build important relationships and gain trust from the clients I had the opportunity to work with. I helped make daily/weekly schedules for multiple clients during my time at PCH, I helped plan meaningful kitchen sessions and treatment sessions with clients, and I had great conversations with clients about their personal lives, things they love to do and just conversations beyond the clinical informational gathering piece. In terms of documentation, I completed multiple DARP notes, I filled out parts of the patient's initial assessments as well as the discharge summary section in the ePR system for both stroke and MSK patients that I have worked with. I became very familiar and comfortable with ePR by the end of placement and was able to complete my charting independently (my clinical supervisors just had to accept them as 'complete' since I didn't have the authoritative rights as a student. with only minor changes made before submitting them as 'complete'.
Future Learning: I want to continue being as client-centered as possible in all future OT interactions with clients. I want to listen attentively and learn from my clients how I can make a positive impact on them and their lives. I hope to attend webinars and professional development opportunities (or speak with mentors) to guide my ability to become a powerful change agent in the lives of all of my clients.
“Emma has supported client care by developing a client schedule individualized for 4 clients based on her previous interactions with them, and was able to illustrate excellent initiative with this task. She demonstrated client-centredness by considering client needs to construct these schedules, involved clients in decision-making and she was able to actively follow through with this task.”
- Level 1 preceptors
“Based on the flow of placement, the project she created nicely integrated her skills for clinical reasoning, supporting client care, being client-centered and enabling occupation. She has continued to effectively contribute to and use her resource binder as a learning and communication tool.”
- Level 1 preceptors
Practice Manager
“As a Practice Manager, occupational therapists manage time, prioritize, and support the management of effective and efficient practice."
- CAOT
My experience: During my level 1 placement, I organized my weeks by using microsoft calendars and I shared my calendars with my preceptors on a weekly basis. By the end of placement, I have an organized and completed binder that contains a number of documents such as assessments, discharge information, my CBFE-OT objectives, and any other additional information that I collected throughout my placement that I found to be useful resources within the scope of stroke/MSK. This binder was very helpful for CEI, it has benefitted me in my cognitive neurological determinants course and it may also benefit me in the future if I choose to take a job within this field (which I am very inclined to do after this incredible clinical experience).
Future Learning: I would like to learn how to best schedule a full day/week of clients, how to prioritize and be most effective with time management when carrying a full caseload in a clinical setting (I only followed a few patients during Level 1 placement).