Clinical rehabilitation clinical placement requirements

Clinical rehabilitation students are required to comply with the following occupational health and safety requirements and safe handling recommendations.

• A uniform shirt is available and should be worn while on placement. The topic coordinator will advise regarding the purchase of these shirts.
• Wear hair secured above the shoulders; ponytails should not hang below or touch shoulders, hair should be firmly secured with plain bands and clips. Beards should be neatly trimmed or fixed as close as possible to the skin with clips.
• Remove bracelets, wristwatches, dangling earrings, necklaces and rings (ONLY exceptions - simple unadorned religious bands eg plain wedding ring or Kara bracelet which must be secured (taped) as high up the arm as possible). Bands/bracelets containing stones are not permitted.
• Remove all nail polish (including clear).
• Remove acrylic fingernails and nails should be trimmed and clean.
• Remove all facial piercings - eyebrow, lip, nose and earrings. A small single stud, one per ear lobe is acceptable.
• Wear a freshly laundered uniform, and clean shoes each day.
• Shower and attend to personal hygiene before attending placement.
• Uniform may be worn while travelling to and from campus/placement, if desired.
• The uniform and ID badge MUST NOT be worn in social settings such as hotels, restaurants and cafes.

Dress code for religious requirements

• Long-sleeved, cotton navy or black t-shirt may be worn under the Clinical Rehabilitation shirt. However, sleeves must be tight enough so when pushed up to the elbows, the sleeves do not roll down. Students will be required to roll the sleeves up when performing clinical procedures and to maintain asepsis in all areas.
• Head wear: plain navy or black head covering/hijab tightly fitted with the face fully visible.

Students who do not adhere to the above policy may be asked to leave placement and their attendance marked as absent.

Clinical badges can only be obtained once you have a student ID card. How to obtain a student ID card.

Collecting in person from Central Library

1. Complete the online form to order and pay at: unicard.com.au/flindersplacementbadge. The cost is $4.40 if collecting in person. Payment is not available at the office and is only available via the online form.
2. Visit the Unicard office level 1 Central library, with student card. Placement cards/badges will be printed while the student waits.
3. Cards/badges will not be issued if a student card is not presented.

Mailed out

1. Check your address is current in the student system before trying to order.
2. Complete the online form to order and pay at: unicard.com.au/flindersplacementbadge. The cost is $10 if mailed out. Payment is not available at the office and is only available via the online form.
3. Cards/badges will be processed and mailed out via unregistered Australian Post within 2 working days. 

Pre-clinical tutorials may form part of your topic requirements. Please refer to timetabling information and your topic booklet for details.

You are required to read and understand the SA Health Clinical Placement Requirements for Healthcare Students (PDF)

If you have an existing condition or develop an illness or disability that may impede your ‘fitness for professional practice’, you must have the Flinders University Fitness for Professional Practice form (PDF) completed by a medical practitioner.

This form needs to be submitted to the placement education coordinator as soon as possible (for existing conditions, at least two weeks prior to the start of the semester).

Venue orientation

All venues will provide an orientation for students prior to or on the first day of placement. Some venues require that students attend an on-site orientation in person, others provide an online package prior to placement, and some venues will require both.

On your first day of placement you will:

• produce your current compulsory pre-placement compliance documents
• meet the venue staff
• be shown around the venue
• be advised of any specific requirements for the venue.

Arriving for placement

It is your responsibility to arrive at your venue at least ten minutes before you’re due to commence the day. This will ensure you arrive in a timely manner and receive an up-to-date handover of your patients.

Missed placement hours

Any hours missed during your placement may be ‘made up’ as you need to attend for the allocated duration. Please arrange this in correspondence with your topic coordinator.

Withdrawing from placement

If you decide to withdraw from your placement either before or soon after it commences you need to email your topic coordinator and your placement team advising that you intend to withdraw from the topic.

This section provides guidance for finding solutions for issues that may arise during a placement, and suggestions about appropriate people to contact.

Issues sometimes arise on placement that you may not be able to resolve by yourself. Who to contact and potential solutions are covered below. Keep in mind that you are required to maintain professional behaviour and communication at all times, especially with those at the placement venue.

The placement communication framework (available below) provides information about who to contact when you have a question about your placement.

First point of contact

When an issue arises at your placement venue, please contact your placement supervisor, and inform your topic coordinator at the next available opportunity via email or in person.

Your placement supervisor and topic coordinator are there to act as your advocate and to help resolve any matters of concern.

If the matter cannot be resolved with the assistance of your placement supervisor:

• Make sure you have all relevant issues documented (for example, keep a full record of dates, times, what happened, any correspondence such as emails, and similar).
• Arrange to meet with your topic coordinator to discuss your concerns.

If you have done this and your concerns still haven’t been adequately addressed, make an appointment to speak with your course coordinator.

Where appropriate and as far as is possible, your anonymity will be preserved.

Remember that you have free access to the University Health, Counselling and Disability Services.

Are you experiencing bullying or harassment?

Flinders University is committed to ensuring that students can participate in workplaces that are free from bullying, harassment and discrimination, and where people are respected and diversity is embraced.

The College complies with the Flinders University principles outlined in No bullying at Flinders.

If you feel that you are being, or have been, bullied or harassed at a placement venue, report this immediately to your Placement Educator/facilitator and/or your Topic Coordinator.

Also, seek support and assistance as soon as possible from the University Student Equal Opportunity Adviser, who provides assistance to resolve complaints that arise from harassment or bullying, under the University’s Equal Opportunity Policy (PDF).

Are you having problems meeting the NMBA standards for practice and/or the learning objectives for your Professional Experience Placement?

The knowledge, clinical skills and attitudes required for your development as a competent registered nurse or midwife are specified in each topic's learning outcomes. These learning outcomes are listed in the topic descriptor on the PEP website and are available on topic FLO sites.

During your Professional Experience Placement (PEP) you may find some of the learning objectives more difficult to achieve than others - this is a normal part of learning. You can discuss these issues with your PEP facilitator if you are having difficulty in achieving any of the topic learning outcomes. They will assist you in developing learning strategies to achieve the expected outcomes.

As a nursing student, as well as meeting the learning outcomes for your topic, you are working towards meeting the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Registered Nurse standards for practice (2016). As such it is expected that you understand each of these standards and subclauses.

You are encouraged to discuss how you believe you are meeting the NMBA standards and/or the topic learning outcomes throughout your PEP with your PEP Facilitator. Students who require or are identified to require further support to achieve these may be offered a Professional Learning Plan (PLP) by the Placement Educator (facilitator) or Topic Coordinator. Further information about Professional Learning Plans can be found below.

What is breach of conduct?

A breach of conduct is when situations arise where there are serious deficits in the way a student conducts themselves or behaves while on placement, for example when a student:

• behave in an unprofessional manner or
• does tasks outside their scope of practice
• engages in unsafe professional practice

When a breach of conduct occurs, the student will be referred to the topic coordinator who will review whether they can continue activity within the topic, depending on the severity of the breach.

Patients and the public expect to be in a safe environment within a placement venue. If at any time a student demonstrates unsafe practice during a placement, they will be immediately withdrawn from the placement venue. The placement educator (facilitator) will then notify the topic coordinator and course coordinator, in writing, of the event or activity that required the removal of a student from the venue.

Unsafe professional practice include:

• inadequate knowledge for safe practice
• inadequate performance of skills, including communication
• unprofessional behaviour that places patients at risk of physical harm, unreasonable emotional distress or neglect
• unlawful or unethical behaviour.

If the issue/s that caused the removal of a student from placement can be resolved, and the venue agrees, a student may continue their placement. Negotiation for the support of a Professional Learning Plan may also be considered.

The topic coordinator, in consultation with the placement educator (facilitator) and relevant clinical staff, will determine whether a student may be reinstated.

If a student’s behaviour or practice is such that they would fail the topic, then they will not be reinstated.