Notes

During my last prac we were required to pick up the previous student's ongoing patient loads and continue the treatment as we felt was required. Often these patients had been receiving treatment for quite significant amounts of time. The hardest part of this was picking up the patient from where the previous student had left off, trying to make the transition as smooth as possible. The main hindrance to making this transition smooth was quality of notes. Most of the notes and handovers for the patients I was to see were great, and told me everything I needed to know and what to prepare for before I saw the patient, but on rare occasion, they had some gaps. This led to frustration on my part, and also on the part of the patient, because it meant that their initial treatment session did not run as smoothly as possible. Although I know that this is what happens in the real world, and part of our profession is being able to pick up where other therapists have left off, for a variety of reasons, it was often challenging. However, this experience made me aware of the importance of clear and concise handovers and notes, and the importance of clarity and detail when recording the main assessment findings. As a result, when the prac was drawing to a close, I ensured that I had enough time to provide the next batch of students with detailed handovers and notes to ensure that their first week was as stress-free as possible!