Tag Archives: placement

Make the most of your placement – tips from BU Nursing students

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Final year nursing students at BU recently contributed to a doctoral study about learning on practice placements.

Amanda Alexander, Joanne Hewitt, Teresa Pearce, Elinor Suter and Clare Taylor volunteered to share their top tips to help new nursing students make the most of their placement experience.

Whether you’re a nursing student or not, if you’ll be starting a placement soon, their tips may help you too:

See what team members do:

Spend time with different people in the team. They’ll teach things in different ways – some may ask you to observe while others expect you to practice a technique or activity. Officially request a day working with different members of staff so that you can focus on what you are learning.

Build your confidence:

Do your homework before arriving on placement, and while you’re settling in, take notes and be prepared to ask questions. The first few days or weeks of a placement can be overwhelming, and for healthcare professionals, things like shift handovers can be challenging, especially when there’s lot of jargon being used. Make sure you know who you are working with so you know who to refer questions to, and familiarise yourself with processes quickly so you can make even small contributions. At the end of each day, ask yourself ‘What have I learned?’

Build your knowledge base:

Learning is your priority on placement and everything is a learning opportunity, from practicing a procedure or process to observing how colleagues make complex decisions. Ask questions, request feedback and make the most of time with your mentor to discuss your learning outcomes and how to achieve them.

Stand firm on important issues:

Some staff can resent placement students because of their protected role or lack of expertise, so try and build a good rapport with everyone, keeping your views and actions professional. If you feel that your learning experience is being affected by an individual’s attitude, initiate a conversation with your mentor or your university link tutor. Be assertive in seeking confirmation of who your mentor is on each shift (or project) as it’s important for your learning to know who’s supervising you. If you need more practice with a procedure or process, ask and keep asking – it’s too late to regret or complain once you’re back at uni.

The students’ top tips were originally published in Nursing Standards magazine on Wednesday 28 January 2015.

Faculty of Science & Technology Careers & Placement team have a new home

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From Monday 1 December you’ll find the team in room C237 in Christchurch House on the Talbot Campus. You can still book an appointment on myCareerHub or contact them by email in the usual way.

The team are there to provide you with advice and support when searching for a placement opportunity. Whether you need help finding the best placement opportunity for you, aren’t sure how to start searching for or applying to organisations, or would like some guidance on CV writing and interview techniques, they’re there to help.

Each Academic School/ Faculty offers the same service, all of which are supported by BU’s Careers & Employability Service.

Columbia placement for Social Work students with help from Global Horizons Funding

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The qualifying social work team are delighted to announce that five undergraduate social work students have been successfully awarded Global Horizon Funding to undertake a four week placement visit to Medellin, Colombia.

As part of the BU International Taskforce, Social Work Framework Leader, Jill Davey, visited EAFIT University, Colombia, and established a link with the Social Work Department to secure reciprocal placement exchanges between social work programmes delivered by BU University and EAFIT University, Colombia.

BA (Hons) Social Work students, Karen Sampson, Gemma Chiverton, Georgia Foy, Cassie Dando and Michelle Lillywhite, all secured funding from Global Horizon, and will each receive £1,500 to go towards flights and accommodation.

Whilst there, the students will be taught by academics from the Social Work Department at the university, and will undertake work placements. The type of placements students can undertake include visiting housing projects half way up the Andes, forest projects, drug and alcohol rehabilitation projects, and projects which work towards getting women off the streets.

Michelle, one of the students, said,

“At BU we are taught to understand and appreciate the complexities of the lives of vulnerable people that we aim to be working with. This opportunity allows us a unique perspective to engage with a different culture where poverty has different implications in everyday life. As an experience it will be equally valuable and exciting!”

Study Abroad in China or India this Summer!

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global-horizons-globeIf you are interested in studying abroad this summer a limited number of grants are available for the Study China & Study India summer programmes.

This is a fantastic opportunity to improve your employability skills & discover what it is like to work in a different country. The successful applicants will be eligible for a £900 grant with Study China, or £675 with Study India.

Email studyabroad@bournemouth.ac.uk with a personal statement and your proof of acceptance for either Study China or Study India by July 15 2014.

 

Don’t miss these great opportunities!

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There are lots of opportunities at BU for volunteering, placements, internships, funding, competitions and more…

  • Overseas Work & Study BU Funding Schemes – Applications open until 30 June 2014 – Read More
  • About to undertake Postgraduate Study either in the UK or overseas? Would you benefit from some funding support? Enter the Targetcourses Bursary Competition – Deadline 30 June 2014 Read More
  • Chance to win £7500 and a five month work experience placement in the automotive industry – Deadline 1 September 2014 Read More 

 

BA Business Studies launches alumni panel of successful graduates

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BU’s Business School has launched an alumni panel of highly successful BA (Hons) Business Studies graduates.

The aim of the panel is to develop and strengthen the Business Studies course by sharing industry experience and trends with students and academic staff.

The panel consists of eleven alumni who graduated between 1989 and 2013.

They recently joined current second year students at their Pre Placement Seminar to share their experience of the world of work, and give advice to students about how to make the most out of their placements.

After the seminar, the panel met with academic staff to talk about industry trends and the skills graduates need to be successful in the workplace.

One of the Alumni panel, Holly Bathurst from Siemens, said: “I thought it was a great start to something extremely positive for the Business School and it will be interesting to see how it shapes both the students learning and their engagement with the working world!”

Gbola Gbadamosi, the Framework leader for the Business Studies course, added: “This panel and the event is a refreshingly alternative that represents a win for all stakeholders.

“For students, it provides a rare opportunity to engage with both recent and long standing alumni. For staff, to rekindle their industry engagement, reconnect with industry trends and catch up with the progress of their former students.

“For the alumni, they were able to reconnect with their peers, older and younger alumni and give back to their university.”

Social work students to undertake placement in Columbia

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Five BU social work students have successfully been awarded Global Horizons Funding to undertake a four week placement visit to Medellin, Colombia.

As part of the BU International Taskforce, Social Work Framework Leader, Jill Davey, visited EAFIT University, Colombia, and established a link with the Social Work Department to secure reciprocal placement exchanges between social work programmes delivered by BU and EAFIT University.

BU BA (Hons) Social Work students Karen Sampson, Gemma Chiverton, Georgia Foy, Cassie Dando and Michelle Lillywhite secured funding from the Global Horizons Fund, and will each receive £1,500 to go towards flights and accommodation.

Whilst there, the students will be taught by academics from the Social Work Department at the university, and will undertake work placements.

The type of placements students can undertake include visiting housing projects (half way up the Andes!), forest projects, drug and alcohol rehabilitation projects and projects which work towards getting women off the streets.

Michelle Lillywhite said “At BU we are taught to understand and appreciate the complexities of the lives of vulnerable people that we aim to be working with.

“This opportunity allows us a unique perspective to engage with a different culture where poverty has different implications in everyday life. As an experience it will be equally valuable and exciting!”

Occupational therapy student shares story of South Africa placement

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An Occupational Therapy student has shared details of her work placement in South Africa.

Third year student Joan Kerr completed the eight week work placement in Hoedspruit, South Africa.

Joan obtained the role through the connections of one of her placement supervisors when choosing her self-selected placement, as developing her skills overseas had always been an ambition.

The position at a private practice involved shadowing for the first week until being assigned a caseload herself – this being the assessment, evaluation and treatment of two children who were referred for treatment from a local school.

All clients referred to the practice are between three and eight years old and can have a variety of concerns which need to be addressed.

With limited resources and time available, not to mention language barriers, keeping sessions fun and stimulating for the children was a challenge but something Joan embraced and encouraged further development of her skills while providing an excellent quality of care.

Joan said: “This placement really opened my eyes to the cultural differences that can be faced when working as an OT, such as the impact of poverty and wealth on treatment and how a language barrier can affect treatment.

“I learnt a lot and improved many of my existing skills such as communication, personal and people development and service improvement.”

She continues “I am very grateful to all involved for enabling me to have this opportunity, and I would definitely recommend taking up a placement abroad if the opportunity arises”.

Her full first-hand account of the placement is available via The World Federation of Occupational Therapists website and details the challenges and benefits of such a placement overseas.

Paid internship for student winner of New Media Writing Prize

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Students who enter the New Media Writing Prize could win a three month paid internship at a top e-company, worth £3,000.

The international competition showcases story-telling specifically created to be accessed through new media devices, such as computers, hand-held tablets and mobile phones.

Entries could be anything from a short story, novel, documentary or poem using words, images, film or animation with audience interaction.

The competition is run by BU’s Media School and has a specific student category, with a prize of a 3 month paid internship at Bournemouth-based e-company Unicorn Training – worth £3,000.

Competition organiser, James Pope, said: “This competition attracts the best innovative writing from around the world, and is truly breaking new ground.

“Each year we see terrific work that showcases new-media as the future of storytelling.”

There will also be an overall winner, who will receive a £1,000 prize donated by if:book UK and a People’s Choice winner, chosen by readers through an online vote, who will receive £250.

Winning entries will be published on new media web-hub, The Literary Platform, the Bournemouth University website and will be showcased at the Awards Ceremony, which takes place on January 22.

Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges including Joanna Ellis, Associate Director at The Literary Platform, Chris Meade, writer and founder of if:book UK and Dan Franklin, Digital Publisher at the Random House Group in the UK.

Dan said: “I’m delighted to be involved with the judging of the New Media Writing Prize again this year: it respects the fact that media is converging, authors are adopting new skills, and writing is changing.”

The competition also aims to provoke discussion and raise awareness of new media writing, the future of the written word and storytelling.

The awards ceremony, which is free to attend and open to all, takes place at BU’s Talbot Campus from 6.30pm on 22 January and will feature talks from leading new media authors.

The closing date for student entries to the New Media Writing Prize is Friday December 13 at 12 noon GMT. Each entry should be submitted by email to submissions@newmediawritingprize.co.uk.

To see previous winners and for more information about the awards visit the New Media Writing Prize website.

Book a free place at the New Media Writing Prize awards ceremony.

Nursing placements at BU in the Nursing Standard

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BU practice educator Belinda Humphries and practice learning advisor Jo Hirdle shared their thoughts on the benefits of student nursing placements in the Nursing Standard.

“Practice experiences can be among the most memorable, enjoyable and rewarding times for students embarking on their nursing careers,” they wrote in the article, which appeared in a student supplement.

“They can also be thought-provoking, pressurised and challenging.”

Nursing students spend 50 per cent of their course on placement, and Belinda and Jo said that the BU practice learning adviser team helps students discuss any concerns they may have in advance of their first placement.

They also suggest that students should try to make a placement preparation checklist, including things like checking shift patterns and travel arrangements, identifying their mentor and other placement support, and looking at uniform policies.

The article also featured first year BU nursing student Kate Allaway, who spoke about her placement experience at Magna Care Home in Poole, and her mentor Heidi Williams, who manages the care home.

Kate said: “As I learned new nursing skills, Heidi encouraged me to write a case study.

“This was helpful and I believe all students should do this.”