SETTING POLICIES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON ME AS THE OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY STUDENT

Dot" Status:
The nature of the clients in the unit required special requirements by the staff. A system specific to the unit was created to notify staff of these requirements, and this was called the "Dot" Status.
The particular client that I was working with had a Red Dot, which indicated past sexual abuse, and a Blue Dot, which indicated a risk of absconding. Both of these statuses meant that I could not see the client on my own, due to the fact that if something happened I had back up evidence. This supervision by a nurse could have altered my results of the OCAIRS interview and influence compliance of intervention.

Confidentiality:
This policy is always a factor for any health professional at all times. Because of the risk of the client and her history, it was important for me to beware that she could disclose some information to me in the interview that I need to inform other people of, regarding her personal safety.
As I am a student and I needed to discuss the results of the interview with my supervisor, I needed to inform her of this and get her consent.

Time:
There is a process in this setting that requires the patient to transfer from an inpatient to the outpatient programme. This strongly influences the amount of time that you have with the patient, therefore intervention and assessment needs to be planned with this in mind. Also treatment needs to be carried out during school hours, 9am to 3pm.

The occupational therapists “do what is best” for the patient:
The occupational therapist in this setting (along with all the other occupational therapists in their respective settings) has the responsibility to do what is good and right for the patient. As the occupational therapy student, I felt pressure to do this and I was always checking concepts and ideas with my supervising therapist. We would have discussions around assessment, intervention and reasoning on a daily basis.