Exploring the emotional landscapes of
placement learning:
implications for student support
Joan Healey and Catherine Cooper
Background to research
• creative writing and reflective practice
option hidden aspects to placement
learning
• EdD
• Pilot study 2012
• Main study 2012 /13
Methodology
• Situated research - feminism post
structuralist
• Narrative - explicit creation of
story / narrative - creative / fiction
main research design
creative writing groups
interviews around one piece
of writing
data analysis - narrative
analysis
textual and spoken data
issues emerging
• stress of being on placement
• students in the middle - feeling the
patients' pain
• emotional resonances with own life or
position
• fear
The land of placement and
occupational therapists
Stress of placement
• G' s poem
• Professional faces B, F
the big thing for me and kind of like why I
didn't get anywhere was I couldn’t get
past 'Alone'
Alone
But part of a team, it’s only for a while, no
friends here
Constantly watched, judged
Doing better today?
Every day different
Feedback stings, falling behind still
Good or bad? Not getting anywhere
Hope I am doing ok
I can make every day a battle. A Group 3
'Putting on the face'
• As a professional my face is always smiling for others
to see. No matter how stressed or flustered I may feel
inside that smile is fixed to show others I'm ok. My
face likes to convey a sense of calm and serenity. You
will not see it show panic, fear or anger unless you
look very closely at those micro expressions; a little
furrowing of the brow or a slight tightness around the
mouth.
All the stressed out gurning occurs away from the
public eye. A stolen moment in the toilets or crumpling
onto the sofa when I get home to offload on someone I
know and trust
F Group 2
students in the middle - feeling the
patients' pain
E' s poem
D's poem
Through the eyes of a patient
I'm frightened
In a place full of people
I feel alone
I want to go home
The pain is unbearable
What should I do
They said I could go home
Tomorrow they said
I want to go home
If I tell them
What will they do
I'll ask the student
She'll tell me the truth
I want to go home
She said trust them
I need help with the pain
She'll tell the nurse
Pain relief comes not a moment
too soon
Tomorrow I'll be home
E writing between groups
you've only got so many breaths in you - so to be taking
them away, just to satisfy my learning outcomes.....
Always in the therapy office
Because I am unsure of where else to go
Can't bring myself to
Disturb the poor patients with their
End of care forms signed off.
For my knowledge to build , she encourages me to
Get out of the office and in to their rooms, but it's like a
Hotel and I'd be
Intruding just to satisfy my educator.
Knowledge and learning outcomes don’t matter to them
Knocking on death's door
Pass the oxygen I think they'd prefer
F Group 3
emotional resonances with own life
or position
• B's story
. It is hard to listen to your own
problems through someone else.
• My patient picks up another bead with amputated fingers, drops it in
the waiting pot. Small smile of satisfaction as she states that red is
her lucky colour today. Goes towards another bead and struggles.
As she starts to get frustrated a tear rolls down her cheek. I want to
cry for her. She states she feels she wants to go back to work. Once
she starts talking she can't stop. She talks about how much she
relies on her daughter who tries to help her as much as possible. My
heart pulls and I want her to stop. Sympathetic face in place I ask
her what she means. She says that it is unfair of her daughter for
her to rely on her so much, especially as she often snaps at her due
to low mood. I tell her that this is perfectly understandable as my
voice tries not to choke. Professionalism kicks in and I talk her
through her problems offering comforting words of non-advice. we
return to the forgotten beads and after she has gone I reflect. It is
hard to listen to your own problems through someone else.
Fear
• A's story
There is a light chattering going on in the room and a low hum
of people playing games, making teas and coffees and
entering into friendly conversation. I walk nervously around
the room and look at the people in it . About 8 or 9 clients and
3 professionals, all men, age range from about 25 - 60, all
bigger, stronger looking than me ........I feel totally out of my
depth , trying to look professional and know what I am doing
here, trying to look confident, comfortable and in control but I
am scared and I feel like a fish out of water. I don't know how I
will be able to relate to all these men, it is so far out of my
comfort zone. I look around and wonder which one did which
crime....I can't help but think that I am in a room with people
who have murdered and raped people , but I want to look
professional and friendly and like I know what I am doing
spaces for support
• before placement - university - what to
expect
• during - practice educator and university
tutor and peers
• afterwards - making sense of it , learning
from it
• Do you think we could do anything more on placement prep,
• Probably, yeah, probably just, I think what I find with the
university quite often is, I want to just talk to somebody, for me
like, as soon as I've got all my problems off my chest it's fine,
you don’t need to come up with solutions or anything like that,
and I think sort of letting, being there for us to do that, like our
personal tutors or whatever, I think often they aren't, often
they say well, you know, what do you want me to do about it,
kind of just get on with it almost, not quite so bluntly again, but
that kind of thing, and I think again with placement, just saying
that we know it’s gonna be hard and we know that this, all
these things that can happen and stuff, talk to your educator,
talk to us, we will just listen, if that's what you need, I think, for
me, anyway, I think that would helpful. B Interview
patterns for support
• peer support groups - from one cohort to
another?
• articulation - reflective practice and
emotional elements pre and post
placement at university and in APPLE
training (practice educator training) for
them to be able to support
wider possibilities
• Schwartz Rounds