A targeted eight week education and support program improves confidence levels for new physiotherapists in managing complex presentations when working in large health care settings.
Dina Pogrebnoy1, Kirsty May11Western Health, St Albans, VIC, Australia
Abstract
Background: New or recently graduated physiotherapists received limited opportunity to manage complex patients as part of their training through the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently graduated physiotherapists at Western Health have indicated that more support is needed for them to feel confident in managing complexity related to their role.
Aims: Improve confidence of new or recently graduated physiotherapists in managing hospital complexity.
Methods: We piloted an eight week education and support program with topics including: managing complex clinical presentations, discharge considerations, patient prioritisation and falls prevention. Sessions were held online and were designed to be interactive. We collected baseline and follow up data to measure confidence using the Bondy Rating Scale.
Results: Recently graduated physiotherapists completed a baseline (n=11) and follow up survey (n=10). Baseline responses ranged from ‘assisted’ through to ‘independent’ for areas of: managing patient complexity, complex discharges and mobilising acutely unwell patients or patients at high risk of falls. Attendance was good for all sessions. On completion of the program, the need for assistance reduced from 55% to 10% for managing complex discharges and from 45% to 10% for managing patients with a complex medical history. Participant’s confidence improved from 27% to 60% in managing falls risk independently. Further to this, 100% of staff reported the education program to be: beneficial, engaging and would recommend it to a friend. Of the senior staff who completed the follow up survey (n=5), 80% said the program saved them time.
Conclusion: New or recent physiotherapy graduates working in large metropolitan hospitals found an eight week structured education program beneficial in improving their confidence when managing hospital complexity.
Recommendations: Our findings suggest that organisations similar to Western Health should customise tailored support programs for their new or recent graduate cohort to help increase their confidence in safely and effectively performing their role.
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