This site has been developed following feedback from Practice Educators that they can feel ill equipped to support students who may be struggling with mental health problems on placement. For students, going on placement, particulalrly in an unfamiliar area, can feel overwhelming after the structure and support available at their University. They may be anxious about being 'on show' and under observation, or about passing their placement.
The first port of call should be the student's HEI. Universities have a system of personal tutors, who are there to support them with personal issues such as health or finance, and will have been meeting regularly with the student prior to them coming on placement. The tutor will be able to advise the student on support available, from self help or counselling sessions to emergency financial support. They will also be able to liaise with the practice educator, and act as a third party if necessary.
The national wellbeing hub is available for all staff working in health and social care. The website includes resources for individuals and managers, as well as details of the National Wellbeing helpline, a compassionate listening service operated by NHS 24 which is available all day, every day.
The National Wellbeing Helpline number is 0800 111 4191
CAKE was an outcome of a project initially funded by The Queens Nursing Institute Scotland and National Lottery Community ‘Catalyst for Change’ Fund. The initial project (called SEEDs) was devised by Caroline Dickson from Queen Margaret University Edinburgh and Kath MacDonald of ListenUp Storytelling. The aim was to develop a toolkit or resource that would support nurses working in the community to cope with Secondary Psychological trauma, by developing self-care, well-being and resilience-building strategies. During a series of storytelling and practice development workshops facilitated by Caroline and Kath, the group co-created CAKE: a recipe for self-care, and Individual and team wellbeing.
The placement wellbeing toolkit (PWT) originated from a pilot project that Queen Margaret University (QMU) student Wellbeing Adviser (Louise Gill) and QMU Physiotherapy Lecturer (Jenna Rhodes) developed with a cohort of QMU Physiotherapy students exploring their placement experiences. The students identified and shared placement challenges and insights which they associated with having a detrimental impact on their mental health and wellbeing.
In response to their project findings, Jenna Rhodes and Louise Gill wrote and developed the Placement Wellbeing Toolkit (PWT), an interactive intervention to support student mental health and wellbeing whilst on placement.
The PWT explores various topics related to placements, identified as potentially challenging to student wellbeing, introducing tools, proactive coping strategies and resources.
Ultimately the PWT gives healthcare students the opportunity whilst preparing for their course placements, to consider and engage with resources and strategies which have the potential to nurture their mental health and wellbeing during their placement experiences.
The PWT has been adopted across all QMU Healthcare programmes as a resource that students can work through as they prepare for their course placements. It has also been shared with all Practice Educators and we welcome any feedback and comments from staff (and students) engaging with the PWT.’
Once downloaded the PWT needs to be opened with ‘Adobe Reader’ for full interactive functionality.
The PWT is copyrighted. Any enquiries or direct feedback/comments can be directed to Louise Gill (LGill@qmu.ac.uk) and/or Jenna Rhodes (JRhodes@qmu.ac.uk). Please also contact Louise or Jenna regarding any discussions related to PWTs use beyond the Turas site.