Roles and Responsibilities

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Roles and Responsibilities

Placement Learning Expectations

The Placement Learning Expectations document sets out general expectations of all those involved in the partnership between students, clinical staff, university lecturers, patients, service users and carers in the clinical education of health professionals.

University Subject Group Placement Lead (SGPL, Allied Health Professional (AHP) Link Tutors and Academic Adviser roles

The Health and Care Profession Council's Standards for Education and Training have been in force since June 2017, providing overarching guidance on the role of Practice Educators.

AHP Link Tutor Essential Activities - Operating Principles (PDF, 224.3KB) - explains how university link lecturers support students and placement providers who support student learning in practice.

SGPL and Link Team Essential Activities (PDF, 177.5KB) - complement and support the Link Tutor role.

Academic Adviser role. (PDF, 227.5KB)

Roles and responsibilities

Student responsibilities

Students are advised that they must follow their placement provider's policies and guidelines at all times while on placement.

  • Contact the placement practice educator and send full CV as soon possible after you have received your placement allocation.
  • Attend the compulsory placement preparation sessions including moving and handling session.
  • Complete any preliminary reading required before placement.
  • Formulate some placement learning objectives before the placement and be prepared to discuss these and develop them further in supervision with the practice educator.
  • Comply with the current Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for Occupational Therapists and HCPC Standards.
  • Respect organisational rules and responsibilities with regards to health and safety including any issues related to their own health/illness.
  • Be aware of their general presentation (physical appearance as well as projected positive image).
  • Behave in a professional manner, with a client-centred, non-judgemental, responsible attitude.
  • Contact university if any serious concerns arise from placement.
  • Keep the university informed of time off for sickness in accordance with Sheffield Hallam University Attendance and Absence procedures.
  • Give written feedback to the placement provider at end of placement.

Practice Educator responsibilities

  • adhere to policies relating to equal opportunities and anti discriminatory practice and indicate the ways in which these apply to students.
  • carry out a risk assessment in accordance with the placement provider organisation's Lone Working policy.
  • work with the student to make reasonable adjustments for students with additional needs.
  • provide relevant induction material for students arriving on placement.
  • take steps to ensure that the rights of patients, clients and service users are respected and that they are aware of the contribution that students are making to their care management.
  • provide a range of relevant learning opportunities for students to enable them to meet their learning needs and module requirements.
  • inform the university immediately if any issues of concern about the student arise during the placement.
  • ensure that written records of student progress during the placement are kept, including details pertaining to any concerns about professional conduct or suitability.
  • commit to keeping up to date with current information about the Occupational Therapy courses and student supervision at Sheffield Hallam University.
  • have a commitment to completing Local Approved Practice Placement Educator (L'APPLE) CPD training with support from the university.

Long Arm Practice Educator responsibilities

  • provide weekly 1 hour supervision (fortnightly for MSc)
  • have open dialogue, where students can share evidence
  • gather feedback from the onsite supervisor and placement setting regularly, and for the half-way and final assessments
  • for MSc students the assessment takes place between the onsite supervisor, long-arm supervisor and university tutor, and the students have full details of this in their handbook
  • listen and share professional insights
  • educator is not expected to be an expert in the area of practice
  • allow the student to find their own solutions
  • negotiate boundaries
 

Student Concerns

Please follow the guidance on raising and reporting concerns on the Student Guidance page if you have concerns while you are on your placement.