Nayar Shoba, Gray Marion, Blijlevens Heleen
Department of Community Health Development, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand.
Aust Occup Ther J. 2013 Jun;60(3):189-96. doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12027. Epub 2013 Mar 27.
BACKGROUND/AIM: There is a paucity of research examining the issues faced by New Zealand new graduate occupational therapists entering practice, including understanding graduates' abilities to translate knowledge and skills gained in their professional training, into the clinical setting. This study sought to explore the perceived strengths and weaknesses of newly graduated occupational therapists in New Zealand.
A mixed methods approach was used including: (i) online survey completed by 458 New Zealand registered occupational therapists, and (ii) five focus groups, in four cities, with occupational therapists, educators and managers. Survey and focus group questions explored new graduates' preparedness for practice based on the Occupational Therapy Board of New Zealand competencies for registration.
New graduates were perceived to be strong in the competencies of 'communication' and 'continuing professional development', and weaker in the areas of 'implementation of occupational therapy' and 'management of environment and resources'. Perceptions of graduates' preparedness in relation to 'culturally safe practice', 'safe, ethical and legal practice' and 'management of self and people' were mixed.
The profession has not raised any serious concerns about new graduates' preparedness for practice; however, there were some identified weaknesses. Currently, there is no clear evidence that increasing undergraduate training time would address these weaknesses and some indication that postgraduate focus may be preferable. Furthermore, the findings highlight the inconsistency in previous studies regarding perceptions of graduate preparedness. Further research regarding new graduates preparedness for practice, from multiple perspectives and taking into consideration length and stage of education, is recommended.
背景/目的：关于新西兰新毕业的职业治疗师在进入实践时所面临问题的研究较少，包括了解毕业生将在专业培训中获得的知识和技能转化到临床环境中的能力。本研究旨在探索新西兰新毕业职业治疗师所感知到的优势和劣势。
采用了混合方法，包括：（i）458名新西兰注册职业治疗师完成的在线调查，以及（ii）在四个城市与职业治疗师、教育工作者和管理人员进行的五个焦点小组讨论。调查和焦点小组问题基于新西兰职业治疗师委员会的注册能力，探讨了新毕业生的实践准备情况。
新毕业生在“沟通”和“持续专业发展”能力方面被认为较强，而在“职业治疗的实施”和“环境与资源管理”方面较弱。对于毕业生在“文化安全实践”、“安全、道德和法律实践”以及“自我与人员管理”方面的准备情况，看法不一。
该行业对新毕业生的实践准备情况没有提出任何严重担忧；然而，确实存在一些已确定的弱点。目前，没有明确证据表明增加本科培训时间能解决这些弱点，且有迹象表明研究生阶段的重点可能更可取。此外，研究结果凸显了以往关于毕业生准备情况认知的研究存在不一致性。建议从多个角度并考虑教育时长和阶段，进一步研究新毕业生的实践准备情况。
