Maximizing a Clinical Placement During Your Personal Support Worker Course

Clinic placements are a useful opportunity to apply the lessons and skills taught in your coursework in a real-world setting. They allow an aspiring personal support worker (PSW) to gain meaningful experience while providing valuable healthcare services to their local community and clients in need of care.

While many students can be nervous before placements, finding the prospect of putting their theoretical knowledge into practice for the first time daunting, there is no need to be apprehensive. Here are a helpful few tips to make the most of a clinical placement.

Engagement is a Key Element in Any Personal Support Worker College Placement

For students enrolled in a personal support worker course, a clinical placement means necessary interaction with a variety of people, from mentors to healthcare professionals to clients themselves. A personable, open-minded approach will do wonders when it comes to adapting to a new environment, whether it’s a hospital ward or a client’s home.

A PSW should feel comfortable engaging with others during their clinical placement

A clinical placement is a valuable opportunity to observe and learn about the general operations of a PSW. This can mean simply learning by example, or through more hands-on methods. Supervisors and mentors play an important role, and should be consulted whenever a question or issue arises. The placement is also an opportunity to develop professional growth and knowledge, so certain limitations are to be expected, and it is in the best interest of the student, the teacher, and the patient to communicate and learn from new situations.

Presentation and Preparation is Half the Battle

Starting a new placement can be stressful, particularly if it is the student’s first time during their personal support worker college program. However, preparation in certain areas can help make for a smooth transition into a new work environment.

One of the easiest ways to prepare is to look the location of the placement up on a map, and be familiar with the basic aspects of the surrounding area. Calculating travel time is useful in order to avoid running into unexpected obstacles as well as any late arrivals. If you are working in a clinical environment, asking a staff member for a tour of the facility and noting any emergency exits or equipment can also help in future situations.

Due to the fact that the placement is often the first introduction to the healthcare field, care should be put into a professional presentation to show that the student takes their workplace responsibilities seriously.

Applying Lessons Learned From Your Personal Support Worker Course

The transition into the professional world, just as with anything else, is a continuing learning process. In their curriculum, students learn the foundations of becoming an exemplary personal support worker, including compassionate and effective techniques which treat the patient in a respectful, dignified manner. Healthcare services present their own challenges and obstacles, and proper coursework preparation can influence and make a difference in professional interactions within this environment.

Theoretical and technical lessons can often improve real-world experience

Clinical placements will differ in how they operate from day-to-day, as well as in styles of management, but maintaining a working academic knowledge of the main aspects and functions that are expected will help each student build upon each experience for the duration of the placement as they work towards becoming a personal support worker.

Interested in studying to become a personal support worker at a KLC private college?

Contact KLC College for more information.