With a hundred and forty contributors sending over eight hundred tweets to this chat I think it just goes to show how valuable we find practice placements and their importance in our health education programs.

I started the chat by asking what challenges students in clinical practice face? This seemed to be the wrong questions and probably should have been what don’t students find challenging this said you all highlighted a number of things that are challenging.  The main themes that came through were that new environments are a challenge and the change of environments with each placement.This liked into a number of people discussing getting to know new staff routine, fitting in within the team, meeting their expectations, paperwork and added challenge of placement documents needing to be completed. It was clear that a number of people play a part in the placement experience and this is really anyone that the learner/student. The main components of this network are the mentor, placement education facilitators and academic tutors and not to forget the tweeting community. There was some suggestion that the experience of the student is both dependent on the experience of the mentor and of that of the student.

The chat then discussed how could students negotiate learning experiences. It was highlighted that being prepared to seek out those opportunities and to discuss, ask and encourage will support this process. Mentors play an important part being knowledgeable about opportunities and how to access them. On the other side of the coin that can be a challenge if a mentors is disengaged from the mentorship process. Learning doesn’t always need to be done by the side of your mentor, the wider health care team can often answers question. Students like to be challenged and found this beneficial to their learning, but this needs to be done in a constructive and supportive way. The chat recognized that mentors have a number of challenges them selves such as patient work load, their own experiences. 

Health care environments are increasingly busy and students have to work in these full time whilst on clinical placement but also have a number of other demands placed on them such as academic work,family commitments to name but a few.  I asked what could students do to cope with the competing demands. A strong message of looking after your self was evident with taking time out for yourself and doing another activity such as walking the dog. Using diaries and tech to keep your self organized. 

What u found very rewarding was that this chat was the first for a number our tweeters and the amount of students who were tuning in to gain advice and support as they are just starting out on their journey into a health care career. I hope that you found the chat useful and can draw upon this chat. I hope that you will tell me and the tweeting community and me how your first placement has gone!

Top five tips taken from the chat

• Take time for yourself
• Take every learning opportunity that comes your way
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions or challenge
• Encourage and reassure yourlearners
• Remember we supporting the learning of our future workforce

Scott