1. Demonstrates the ability to give constructive and timely feedback. During the time at both fieldworks I was able to give constructive and timely feedback. I corrected my clients' form to ensure proper body mechanics while clients were completing therapeutic exercises and activities at Regional One Health. I also assisted clients during group therapy and made sure the clients remained on track and correctly identified correct answers on worksheets. By providing this feedback, I ensured the clients' safety and that they were able to get the most out of their individual or group therapy session.
2. Modifies behavior in response to feedback; seeks opportunities to apply feedback. I always made sure to seek out feedback from my educators and modify my behavior based on their advice. During my first few transfers at Regional One Health (ROH), my educator noticed that I did not apply proper body mechanics when assisting a patient who required maximal assistance to get from seated at the edge of bed to getting to a wheelchair via a stand pivot transfer. She let me know a different approach that I would lift more from my legs than from my back. I made sure to apply this tip to all of my transfers and used proper body mechanics in all future transfers.
3. Productively uses knowledge of own strengths and weaknesses. Each week at ELMHS, my fieldwork educator and I would complete the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) weekly collaboration sheet. We would discuss my strengths for the week as well as areas I could continue to work on. I would let her know areas I wanted to improve on, such as redirecting clients back to group when they responded to internal stimuli and making my group sessions flow more cohesively. We would collaborate on some goals to help me improve each area. One piece of advice my fieldwork educator gave me to improve the flow of my groups was to prepare a bulleted outline to bring so I could glance at it throughout the session. These meetings helped me focus on an a specific goal each week to accomplish my goals. 4. Maintains balance in personal and professional life while prioritizing professional responsibilities and commitments. It is important to balance personal and professional life while maintaining professional responsibilities and commitments. Even though I would spend some time after fieldwork planning groups and individual interventions, I made sure to make some time for myself over the weekend. While in Louisiana, I made sure to explore Jackson and the cities around me. I went to visit my friend who had moved to Baton Rouge, attended the Andalusia Prison Rodeo, and had some time to just unwind. My classmate and I even fostered a cat for a few weeks. During my Regional One rotation, I made sure to hang out with friends in Memphis, attend a wedding, and go on some walks in the park. Below are some pictures of these.
Pictures above are from the following events: First picture: A picture of my friend from undergrad and I seeing each other for the first time in two years! He moved to Baton Rouge last year and I got to spend time with him while completing my rotation at ELMHS. Second picture: My classmate, Tiana Bridges, and I attended the Andalusia Prison Rodeo. This was our first rodeo and we had a blast! We bought some artwork as well. Third picture: This is the cat Tiana and I fostered for a few weeks while completing our rotation at ELMHS. Fourth picture: My boyfriend (far left) was the "flower bro" at our friend Eric and Marie's (couple on the right) wedding.
5. Demonstrates functional level of confidence and self-assurance. During my time at ROH, I went into all my treatments confident and self-assured. I answered client’s and caregiver’s questions and made sure they adhered to their precautions. One of my client’s family members asked how long I had been working here. After I told him I had been a student here for eight weeks, he reported that he had thought I was an employee there as well as that I had the confidence and attitude of an OT practitioner.
6. Uses humor to diffuse tension. During my treatment sessions at ROH, I incorporated humor as one method of my therapeutic use of self to try to lift the client’s spirits. One example was when I went into a client’s room for a 7:30 a.m. treatment session. I had been seeing her the past few days, but her last sessions had been scheduled later in the morning. She was getting upset that the session was earlier in the morning, but was motivated and willing to work with me. While she was getting out of bed, she got upset with her husband, who was in the room, as well as complained to me about how early it was. Since I had built a good rapport with this client earlier in the week, I remarked “you sounded like me this morning when I had to get up.” This made her laugh and I noticed after, she calmed down and was more willing to work.
7. Maintains professional behavior, regardless of problem or situation. There were many instances where I had to maintain my professional behavior, regardless of the problem or situation. One encounter I had at ROH was one of my clients who was not making progress as quickly as he would have liked due to the pain in his leg. Halfway through his stay, he had additional vascular complications that caused wounds to develop on his foot. Because these new wounds appeared, he was more hesitant to participate in therapy, and some days he thought therapy was impacting and causing additional wounds. One day I came into the room to start his therapy session and he reported that his therapy team did not care about him. I asked him what exactly about his treatment led him to feel that way. He was unable to pinpoint a specific item, but mentioned how we were wanting him to do things and not take into account his pain level that day. We had a productive conversation about how his rehab team was working hard to help him and that even though we could not feel the pain he was feeling, we knew he was motivated and tried the hardest he could. From this point forward, I also made sure to explain why each activity I planned helped to benefit his rehab journey and how it would help to accomplish his goals.
8. Takes risks to maximize outcomes. During one of my interventions at ELMHS, I planned a cooking group to work on instrumental activities of daily living skills and to teach clients new recipes they could use once they were discharged. I had my groups bake pumpkin spice muffins from scratch. This recipe had a lot of ingredients and many steps, so I was unsure if one of my groups would be able to follow the directions for this recipe based on their cognition level. I decided to attempt this recipe since they would be making it as a group and I would be there to supervise. They were able to successfully cook the muffins, with increased time and minimal to moderate assistance from myself and my fieldwork educator. Taking this risk helped my clients feel more confident in their cooking skills and this was the first time many of the clients made a recipe from scratch.
9. Uses knowledge and information in an innovative way. I have used knowledge and information in an innovative way on my Level II fieldworks. One of the group therapy sessions I led was to create a coping skills fortune teller. Many members in this group were sensory seeking and needed to work on something while they learned about coping skills. I decided to an adapt a game that many of them played when they were younger to have something familiar while they learned a new skill. This allowed each member to practically apply their skills while making it in a fun game.
10. Empowers clients and team members. Empowering clients and team members is an important part of being an occupational therapist. One way I helped to empower clients at ELMHS was to allow them to develop their computer literacy skills. Many of these clients had either never used a computer or had not used computer in years. I was able to create activities where they would be able to have a chance to navigate websites they may end up using when they transition to a group home after discharge. Some activities included going to Walmart's website to online grocery shop, exploring Baton Rouge and New Orleans public bus system, and doing an escape room. These activities allowed each client to gain skills on current grocery prices, navigating safe websites, and learning where to search for items.
11. Actively participates in leadership or supportive roles in local, state, and/or national associations. During my time at UTHSC, I had an opportunity to serve as the Tennessee Occupational Therapy Association (TNOTA) student representative on our Student of Occupational Therapy Association’s board. I have continued to maintain my membership in AOTA and TNOTA. I have been able to use my AOTA and TNOTA memberships to review evidence-based sources for treatment ideas for both of my fieldworks.
Above are my TNOTA (left) and AOTA (right) membership cards. Member ID# blurred out for privacy.
12. Maintains values over self-promotion or profit. One morning when I was walking into my fieldwork at Regional One, I heard a bed alarm going off in one of my client’s rooms. Right before I walked into the room, a nurse headed into his room. I knew that this morning was going to be a busy one since I had two new evaluations that day. Instead of going into the office and chart reviewing, I asked the nurse if she needed any help getting my client back into the bed and to make sure he was safe. The nurse reported that she needed help getting him out of bed and seated in a wheelchair and thanked me for taking time to help him.