Posted: January 2nd, 2024
Discuss your plan for completing your clinical hours
Discussion Prompt
Discuss your plan for completing your clinical hours. What specific skills or goals would you like to accomplish during this clinical rotation? How do you plan to use evidence to support your clinical decisions?
Expectations
Initial Post:
Length: A minimum of 250 words, not including references
Citations: At least one high-level scholarly reference in 7th ed APA from within the last 5 years
Completing clinical hours is an important part of gaining hands-on experience in your chosen healthcare field. During this upcoming clinical rotation, focusing on developing strong communication skills will serve you well. Practicing active listening, using plain language, and checking for understanding when explaining diagnoses, treatment plans, and answering patient questions will help you interact effectively with clients, families, and the healthcare team.
The specific clinical skills required will depend on your discipline and patient population. For example, in physical therapy, goals may include mastering transfers, gait training techniques, and therapeutic exercises. In occupational therapy, improving skills with activities of daily living like dressing, feeding, and home modifications could be areas of focus.
Managing your time and prioritizing patient needs will be essential as caseloads increase. Learning to quickly assess patients and develop efficient treatment plans through organization and detailed note-taking will optimize the time spent with each client.
When making clinical decisions, utilize available research evidence. Databases such as CINAHL, PubMed, and PEDro are good starting points for your field (Sargent College, 2022). Consider using the PICO format to formulate questions about patient cases and guide literature searches (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2019). Appraising levels of evidence and applicability to individual clients will develop your critical thinking.
Incorporate evidence-based assessments and interventions by referencing current best practices and guidelines whenever possible. Document your clinical reasoning for any modifications made. The overall goal is to provide the highest quality, ethical and effective care through continuous self-evaluation and lifelong learning. Please let me know if any part of the clinical process requires further explanation.