The following pages aim to aid in the smooth use of the physiotherapy placement document by a step by step; page by page guide.

Some pages need little explanation; others have more detail written in blue to help clarify things
An Overview

  • Page one needs to be completed by the student with all the correct details for their placement.
  • You will notice some XX for the placement hours and this is because the expectations from the 4 Universities are different thus hours may need to be a minimum of 30-36 per week – this will have been completed by the individual University so all you need to do is check what the document the student brings says.

CLINICAL ASSESSMENT DOCUMENT

LEVEL 1/2/3
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7

(Please insert marks awarded for each section)

Official use only

STUDENT NAME ------PLACEMENT DATES ------

PLACEMENT LOCATION ------

Trust & Site

AREA ------

E.g. Acute / Intermediate

MAIN AREA OF PRACTICE ------

E.g. medical wards

PRACTICE EDUCATOR ------

Name and contact details

VISITING TUTOR ------

HOURS COMPLETED ------

Expected….XX…hours

Students are at all times expected to:
Complete a minimum of…XX …hours per week
Act responsibly and professionally.
Demonstrate safe practice and take responsibility for the safety of themselves and others in the workplace in accordance to CSP and HPC standards.
Show sensitivity to an individual’s rights and demonstrate non-discriminatory
practice.
  • Page 2 facilitates the students logging the number of hours that they complete per day and ultimately per placement.
  • The HPC stipulate that all student physiotherapists have to complete a minimum of 1000 clinical hours for eligibility to register to practice
  • It is for this reason that practice educators are requested to sign to verify completion

OFFICIAL RECORD OF CLINICAL HOURS COMPLETED

We expect students to attend placements on average for at minimum of…XX…hours per week, the majority of which is with service users. This may be in negotiation with the clinical educator, taking into account ease of travel and the normal working patterns of the unit/department/clinical educator. Preparation time for any planned activity (e.g. presentation/case study) may be taken into account as long as evidence of work is provided.

Please note:

  • Lunch breaks are not normally included in the total hours
  • Please ‘round-up’ times to nearest half hour

Week / Week 1 / Week 2 / Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5
Week Beginning / __/__/__ / __/__/__ / __/__/__ / __/__/__ / __/__/__
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Day Total

Placement Total ______(To be inserted onto front cover)

I confirm that this is an accurate record of the hours completed by the student:

PRACTICE EDUCATOR NAME: ______

SIGNATURE: ______

LE OF CONTENTS

  • Page 4 explains how to complete the documents and all practice educators are requested to read this page to understand what responsibilities are expected of them by the Universities’
  • You will also see that the responsibilities of the student and visiting tutor are highlighted to allow understanding of other people’s roles and responsibilities.

PRACTICE EDUCATOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Week 1:

  • Complete student induction
  • Read through assessment form. Discuss and complete with the student the learning contract/clinical targets and any strengths, areas to develop and specific needs identified

Each week:

  • Discuss progress and learning outcome setting with the student, agreeing action plans for continued development of practice in each of the 7 marked assessment sections.
  • Complete weekly feedback for all 7 assessment sections providing feedback comments in accordance with how the student is meeting the learning outcomes.
  • Complete the Placement Activity Record at the end of this document
  • Discuss feedback comments with the student weekly and visiting tutor when present.

Mid-way:

  • Discuss progress with the student and visiting tutor at the Mid-way stage and establish agreement for the Mid-way placement report written by the Visiting Tutor providing feedback comments in accordance with how the student is meeting the learning outcomes and assigning a tick to the appropriate grade box in each section

Final week:

  • Complete ‘Professional Conduct on Clinical Placement ‘Section
  • Complete the final placement assessment providing feedback comments and assigning final marks for each section
  • Discuss feedback comments and marks (and student self-assessment) with the student

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Week 1:

  • Contact Visiting Tutor
  • Complete the “Student details” and “Placement details” sections on the front page of the form.
  • Discuss learning outcomes with the Practice Educator(s) identifying any specific strengths, specific needs and areas that you would like to develop in relation to previous placement experiences.

Each week:

  • Review your progress and continued areas for development, document in the appropriate section of the Clinical Assessment Document your planned weekly learning outcomes to meet the final learning outcomes and be prepared to discuss with your clinical educator(s).
  • Complete appropriate reflection on practice documentation including experience gained whilst on placement
  • Complete the hour’s sheet on page 2.
  • Identify a maximum of 3 learning outcomes relating to each of the 7 core assessment areas to accomplish each week in order to achieve the final learning outcomes set.

Mid-way:

  • Complete reflection for Mid-way placement report
  • Discuss progress with the visiting tutor at the Mid-way stage and establish agreement for the Mid-way placement report written by the Visiting Tutor

Final week:

  • Read the evaluation of the final learning outcomes and discuss the comments with your practice educator(s)
  • Ensure that all signatures are obtained including the midway and final stage appraisals to indicate that you have discussed the comments and marks allocated by the clinical educator.

Following the placement:

  • Return the assessment document (and placement evaluation form) to the Placements office at your own University/College

Complete the healthcare placements website feedback form to evaluate the placement at

Visiting Tutor Responsibilities

  • Complete appropriate documentation (involvement in assessment is specific to each HEI).
  • Complete the Mid-way placement report through discussion with the student and Practice Educator
  • Discuss the student’s performance and document any areas of concern highlighted in the weekly feedback sections
  • Provide support for student and Practice Educator(s) as appropriate

Bring any areas of concern to the Placement Coordinator and/or Course Leader

  • Page 5 provides advice for the completion of the goal setting aspect of the document – educators are reminded that a maximum of 3 goals per assessment section per week are allowed. It is anticipated that with 7 sections few students will have 3 in each thus 21 for the week and 105 for 5 a 5 week placement.
  • Goals should purely be set to facilitate progression of the student within the specific assessment section.
  • Week one goals are often more difficult to gauge as the student doesn’t know what to expect from the placement and you as an educator won’t know the students capabilities, but by the second week areas which need to be worked on are more easily identified facilitating goals setting for subsequent weeks.
  • Please note it is acceptable to have a section without goals in it if further progression is not possible – alternatively you may just have one.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN IDENTIFYING LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • Are the outcomes set achievable in a week?
  • Are the outcomes appropriate to the level of the student e.g. 1st placement second year or 1st placement third year?
  • Are the weekly learning outcomes working towards the overall placement learning outcomes?
  • Are the outcomes appropriate to the week which they are set?
  • Are the outcomes SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timed)?

Please note that the student is responsible for preparing, in advance of a pre-arranged formal supervision session, the action plans negotiated with the Practice Educator for the forthcoming week.

The Practice Educator is responsible for giving the student advance notice of the formal supervision session and assisting the student to set appropriate action plans.

  • Page 5 also aids with the grading of students on placement and reminds educators that the expectations of achievement are different depending on the level of student i.e. second or third year and what placement they are on e.g. first second year placement or final placement of the second year as their is an expectation that with transferable skills all students will improve with general placement experience, though it must be remembered that specialised placement can be difficult thus background information and teaching are vital to aid the students progression and starting point is unlikely to be at the same point as core areas such as MSK; Respiratory; or neurology.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN AWARDING A GRADE OR MARK

Atmid-way stage the student is undergoing formative (i.e. feedback to inform progress) assessment where a tick  within the appropriate criteria banding will provide relevant grading information. There is no need to enter a mark at this stage.

At final assessment marks need to be allocated to each section in order to provide summative (end point) data regarding the students’ performance on that placement. NB The overall mark is calculated and recorded at the University/College and contributes to overall degree classification.

Consider the Following:

Which band and which mark within a band?

Consider the wording of the marking criteria for each banding and how these apply to each of the learning outcomes in each section in turn.

Where students demonstrate variation in meeting the criteria in one banding for all learning outcomes, decide which banding best represents the collective average of their performance. This may require consideration both across and within bandings

Use the following examples for guidance to decide on a mark within a band

Matching the comments to the mark

It is important that students receive constructive feedback & comments related to the learning outcomes. It is also important that a comment indicating the level the student is working to, be in accordance with the wording of the selected marking criteria banding. For example a comment referring to student working at a very good standard would match a mark with the 60 – 69% banding.

In what year and at what level is the student working?

Points to consider: Are they 1st, 2nd or 3rd year?

Which placement are they doing within that year e.g. first placement second year?

Example 1: A student on their first placement in the second year who achieves a mid-way grade or final mark in the 50-59% banding in the Clinical Reasoning section is at this time and at this level working at an average standard, i.e. as a novice learner in the clinical setting. To achieve a similar grade or mark in the same 50-59% banding in the last placementof the third year you would expect the clinical reasoning skills to be approaching what is deemed an average standard for a newly-qualified junior therapist (NB the student should not be assessed as such, mindful of their undergraduate status).

Example 2: A final mark of 90% in any section would indicate an exceptional standard of performance in all learning outcomes at this time and level.

Marks from 0% to 100% are available for all levels of training thus should be utilized appropriately.

  • Page 6 provides a glossary of terms – where clarification is provided as to the terminology or jargon used by the universities and how that marries up with the everyday terminology that you will use in your feedback to the students.
  • This glossary should help you grade the students on the university scale but also allow explanation of concepts such as
  • Supervision – expected by the CSP and HPC education guidelines and purely provides a process of monitoring progression – this is not the same as guidance – which is more of a closer direction required to guide the student to meeting learning outcomes and expectations for their level or goal attainment.
  • Guidance is expected in the early stages of most placements.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

This glossary has been produced in order to enable you to clarify some of the terms used in the placement assessment form.

Exceptional
(Upper 1st 86-100%) / The relevant information/skills consistently & accurately deployed to an unusually high standard. Exceptional grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements (also to an unusual or unprecedented high standard).
Excellent
(Lower 1st 70-85%) / The relevant information/skills consistently & accurately deployed. Excellence conveys theoretical/conceptual/practical elements are grasped beyond what is usually considered to be ‘very good’.
Higher than Average
(2:1 60-69%) / Most of the relevant information/skills accurately deployed. Good grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements.
Average
(2:2 50-59%) / Much of the relevant information/skills mostly accurately deployed. Adequate grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements.
Acceptable
(3rd 40-49%) / No major omissions or inaccuracies in the deployment of information /skills. Satisfactory grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements.
Refer/Fail
(30-39%) / Expected standards not being fully met, inaccuracies regarding skill and knowledge. Likely to be ineffective and potential to be unsafe
Fail
(Below 29%) / Expected standards not met at all. Major inaccuracies regarding skill and knowledge leading to an inability with a potential to be unsafe.
Guidance / Used to describe a situation where a student requires some input from the practice educator in order to demonstrate practice that meets a stated learning outcome. Guidance is not the same as supervision and is normally expected.
Supervision / The monitoring of a students work and performance. Students must be supervised on all placements.
Throughout the placement / The student is able to demonstrate that they can meet a specific learning outcome on every occasion during the stipulated time
In the early part of the placement / The student requires guidance to meet a specific learning outcome during the first 2 weeks of a 5 week placement but is able to meet the learning outcome on every occasion after this time.
Predominantly in the early part of the placement / The student requires guidance to meet a specific learning outcome during the first 2 weeks of a 5 week placement and may need occasional guidance to meet the learning outcome after this time.
Regular guidance / The student requires guidance to meet a specific learning outcome throughout the placement but is able to demonstrate independent achievement of the learning outcome on some occasions by the end of the placement.
  • Page 7 has the visiting tutor form – a more formal process than previous ones and you will be glad to hear something that you only have to discuss as it is the tutors and students responsibilities to complete.

VISITING TUTOR PLACEMENT REPORT

PRACTICE EDUCATOR FEEDBACK: To be completed by visiting tutor
Achievement of the learning outcomes:
Available learning opportunities
Identification of any constraints on learning
Supervision
Applying theory to practice
Professional issues / team working

  • Pages 8 through to 21 contain the 7 clinical assessment areas under the headings of:
  • Section 1: PATIENT ASSESSMENT
  • SECTION 2: CLINICAL REASONING
  • SECTION 3: INTERVENTION & MANAGEMENT
  • SECTION 4: EVALUATION AND REFLECTION
  • SECTION 5: INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
  • SECTION 6: ORGANISATION AND PLANNING
  • SECTION 7: COLLABORATION AND TEAM WORKING
  • Each academic level will have different learning outcomes for the student to achieve in each of the 7 sections. These can be viewed in the clinical documents section of this website.
  • At the beginning of week one and then the end of subsequent weeks goals need to be discussed and written up by the student
  • As practice educator your responsibility is to input written feedback on all goals set and evidence where able achievements.

Weekly SMART goals in order to meet final learning outcomes above
To be completed by Student / Evidence & Formative Feedback of weekly achievement
To be completed by Practice Educator
Planning week 1: / Week 1:
  • At midway and the end of the placement space is provided for appraisal reflecting marks and space for reflections are provided in each section by both student and practice educator at the end of the placement.

Planning week 3: / Week 3:
Midway Appraisal & attainment of learning outcomes so far - reflecting midway mark:
Final overall reflections by Student: / Final Appraisal & overall attainment of learning outcomes- completed by Practice Educator reflecting final mark:

At midway stage you are asked to allocate a tick to indicate in each of the 7 sections where the student is achieving

  • At the end of the placement you are asked to allocate a specific percentage mark and it is this mark that goes towards the student’s final degree classification.

Criteria / Midway
Tick only / Final mark
1st
86-100% / Learning outcomes met to an exceptional standard, maintained throughout the placement, with minimal guidance in the early part of the placement
1st class 70- 85% / Learning outcomes met to an excellent standard with guidance in the early part of the placement
2i
60-69% / Learning outcomes met to a higher than average standard, maintained with guidance predominantly in the early part of the placement.
2ii
50-59% / Learning outcomes met to an average standard, maintained at the latter half of the placement with regular guidance.
3rd
40-49% / Learning outcomes met to an acceptable standard, with regular guidance throughout.
Refer/Fail
30-39% / Learning outcomes not fully met to an acceptable standard regardless of appropriate guidance.
Fail
29% or below / Learning outcomes not met to any standard regardless of intensive guidance at all times
  • At the end of the placement you are requested to make a few overall comments on the student in general to facilitate learning on future placements or ready for qualified work. The universities use these comments to write references for the students.
  • Additionally an opinion needs to be expressed as to whether the student has had satisfactory professional conduct

Overall comments and recommendations for future placements. Please add comments regarding the student’s strengths and weaknesses which will help to inform their future learning needs following the assigned grading. These comments inform the end of award reference written by the student’s academic tutor.

Status at End of Placement – Must be completed for all students: