F E AT U R E
Shaping New Graduates Experience: Learning to Make Intervention Decisions Elizabeth Moir, PhD candidate, The University of Queensland Jodie Copley, Associate Professor, Occupational Therapy, The University of Queensland Merrill Turpin, Senior Lecturer, Occupational Therapy, The University of Queensland I think this is what I want to do… I’m not sure if this is what I want to do… I’ll check before I do it… (S1 NG11) … as a new grad, you do get frustrated, because it doesn’t come easy… it takes time to make decisions. (S2 Sen. 3)
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hese phrases were used by a recent new graduate and experienced occupational therapists working in paediatric practice when describing their experiences of learning to make intervention decisions. It has long been identified that the transition from student to occupational therapy practitioner is stressful1-3, with decision-making identified as one aspect of practice that is challenging for new graduates4-6. Numerous decisions are made daily in occupational therapy practice–when planning for assessment and intervention, but also during and after service provision. Decision-making within paediatric occupational therapy practice may be particularly challenging for new graduates due to the need to simultaneously engage children with varying abilities while also meeting the needs of the whole family. Previous research has focused on support for new graduates during the transition to practice generally, with little addressing new graduate decision-making. It has also focused on workplace support, rather than new graduates’ personal resources and support
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from the professional community. To better understand new graduates’ experiences of learning to make intervention decisions when working with children and families, we undertook a research project using case study methodology7. This enabled us to explore new graduates’ experiences within three diverse paediatric service delivery models– private practice, an acute hospital, and nongovernment organisations (NGOs). We sought the perspectives of current new graduates, as well as experienced occupational therapists who had navigated the new graduate years and supported new graduates, who were able to reflect on their experiences.
Findings: Support and Resources Participants identified a range of common supports and resources that influenced and informed new graduates’ intervention decisions. These included: • Support from others: formal supervision sessions and informal discussions with colleagues and individuals within new graduates’ personal networks (i.e. university staff and peers, own family) enabled new graduates to ask questions, check their plans and clinical reasoning, gather ideas, and receive validation and reassurance. Opportunities for work shadowing and joint sessions provided a baseline for new graduates to follow, and confirmed their current practice.
• Physical resources: these ranged from on-site written materials to university notes and online resources • Knowledge and experience: knowledge and experience gained while at university from coursework and student placements gave new graduates something to fall back on. Knowledge and experience gained within the workplace enabled them to draw on their early workplace clinical experiences and translate intervention ideas between clients. • Feedback and reflective practice: reflective practice enabled new graduates to reflect on the decisions they made and determine whether they needed to change their approach in the future. Seeking feedback from colleagues, clients, and families was often used to affirm their decisions. Seeing progress in their clients also helped new graduates to know they were making the right decisions. Initially new graduates relied more on their colleagues to help them know what to do, but as they gained practice experience they felt more confident to make their own decisions and mostly only sought support for unfamiliar or complex cases. They also began to make faster decisions by drawing on previous experiences within the workplace. However, despite a range of supports and resources being identified as useful, not
