Reflections on Placement

My 12 week placement at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital has been a successful and positive experience. At first I was apprehensive about a split placement and spending the first six week in geriatric rehab and the second six weeks on the orthopaedic ward of the hospital and having two separate supervisors. I quickly learned that this situation definitely has its advantages. Firstly because I was able to have two supervisors I was able to watch both social workers in practice and pull from a wider range of skills for my own practice. I used the parts I found that suited me and was able to tailor my practice around what I learned from each of them. Therefore because no two people do things the same I didn’t just have to follow one supervisor’s way.

As both placements were in different parts of the hospital I was able to have a wider range of clients to work with. In the rehabilitation setting there were six clients that I had one-on-one contact with and because of the long term admissions I was able to build a supportive and professional relationship with these clients. In the orthopaedic wards patients come and go very quickly and therefore you may not have a lot of time to get things done. It is crucial in these positions that you are able to build rapport quickly so they feel open and trusting to share with you personal details. I was able to pick up very quickly the importance of reading non-verbal body language.

This placement was very important to me because it helped me see barriers that may have affected my professional life as well. One of my first patients was an older gentleman and from the beginning I did not feel that comfortable with him. At first I thought it might have been because he was my first patient I was seeing alone but even weeks into seeing this client I was still uncomfortable. I decided that I would sit and reflect on the situation and try to work out what was making me uncomfortable. I had a ‘light bulb’ moment while reflecting that this man actually reminded me of someone from my past and my teenage years that was a very negative experience. Once I was able to determine that it wasn’t think client but my own feelings that made me uncomfortable I was able to return to supporting this client without negative feelings. Not only did this reflection help me to understand these feelings but it also brought to light the very importance of reflection and the use of self.

Used placement to visit, ask questions and understand other areas of social work within Queensland Health. Some of the areas I visited were:

• Burns
• ACAT (Aged Care Assessment Team) – attended 3 in home assessment with SW’er
• Cardiology
• Neurology
• DEM (Department of Emergency medicine)
• Dialysis and Renal
• ICU (Intensive Care Unit)
• ECU (Extended Care Unit)
• GEM (Geriatric Evaluation & Management)
• Child Safety (within the hospital setting)
• Homelessness Liaison

I have also gained a more thorough understanding of Allied Health and the roles within. Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, dietician, Speech, Psych are a few of the multi-disciplinary team I worked with on placement. I was even able to attend two OT home visits with the patient and the therapist.

I have developed a better understanding of social work theories in practice: Through observations of supervisor and my own interactions with clients I have gained a better understanding of Crisis Intervention, Systems Theory, Client Self-Determination, and the Strengths Perspective. I have found I am drawn to Systems Theory to understand family dynamics, seek to help individuals understand their situation and work to help those individuals find healthy ways to cope with their environments, and working within a structured, organised system (Payne 2005).

References:

Payne, M 2005, Modern Social Work Theory 3^rd edn, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire.