Turning Point, Eastern Health Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Richmond, Victoria, Australia.
Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia.
Aust Occup Ther J. 2022 Feb;69(1):38-49. doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12767. Epub 2021 Sep 7.
The rapid shift to digital platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic enabled occupational therapy practice education to continue while creating unique learning opportunities for students in an environment of high demand for practice education providers. How occupational therapy practice educators experienced fieldwork supervision during this rapid redesign of service delivery is not widely understood. This study aimed to explore the experiences of practice educators who supervised occupational therapy students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
Fifteen occupational therapy practice educators participated in focus groups and individual semi-structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to understand the experiences of the participants and explore the barriers and facilitators to providing practice education in this context.
The experiences of the occupational therapy practice educators were interpreted into three themes: (1) Opportunities lost and then created (as two subthemes); (2) The relationship between the student and practice educator (comprising subthemes of practicing self-care and connection and support); and (3) Signing-off of students' competencies. While digital platforms were initially viewed as limiting, they also were used to create new opportunities for student learning. Participants spoke of being mindful of their and students' wellbeing and finding ways to provide connection and support. Participants were challenged by the need to adapt how they evaluated students in the context of a pandemic.
The findings of this study highlight the complexities of occupational therapy practice education in the rapidly shifting context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. The outcomes highlight the importance of creating new ways of using digital platforms during practice education while focussing on the relationships with students.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，向数字平台的快速转变使职业治疗实践教育能够继续进行，同时为学生在对实践教育提供者需求高的环境中提供了独特的学习机会。职业治疗实践教育者在服务提供的这种快速重新设计过程中是如何体验实地监督的，这一点还没有得到广泛的了解。本研究旨在探讨在澳大利亚 COVID-19 大流行期间监督职业治疗学生的实践教育者的经验。
15 名职业治疗实践教育者参加了焦点小组和个人半结构化访谈。反思性主题分析用于理解参与者的经验，并探讨在这种情况下提供实践教育的障碍和促进因素。
职业治疗实践教育者的经验被解释为三个主题：（1）机会的丧失和创造（分为两个子主题）；（2）学生和实践教育者之间的关系（包括自我保健和联系与支持的子主题）；（3）学生能力的签署。虽然数字平台最初被认为是有限的，但它们也被用来为学生的学习创造新的机会。参与者谈到了注意自己和学生的幸福，并找到了提供联系和支持的方法。参与者面临着在大流行背景下调整他们评估学生的方式的挑战。
本研究的结果突出了澳大利亚 COVID-19 大流行背景下职业治疗实践教育迅速变化的复杂性。研究结果强调了在实践教育中创造使用数字平台的新方法的重要性，同时关注与学生的关系。
