The impact of clinical placements on the emotional intelligence of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, and business students: a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Emotional intelligence (EI) is a critical skill for healthcare practitioners. Minimal longitudinal research has tracked the changes in EI of therapy students over their final full-time clinical placements. METHODS: The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i2.0) measured the EI of 283 therapy students and 93 business students (control group who do no clinical placements) at three time points over a 16-month period, the same period that the therapy students participated in clinical placements. RESULTS: Analysis of the therapy students showed significant increases over the 16 months of the study in Total EI score, as well as nine other EI skills. However, large percentages of students reported declining scores in emotional-expression, assertiveness, self-expression, and stress tolerance, with some students reporting low EI scores before commencing full-time extended clinical placements. CONCLUSIONS: The study contributes to new knowledge about the changing EI skills of therapy students as they complete their full-time, extended placements. Emotional intelligence in student therapists should be actively fostered during coursework, clinical placements and when first entering the workforce. University educators are encouraged to include EI content through the therapy curricula. Employers are encouraged to provide peer coaching, mentoring and workshops focused on EI skills to recent graduates.

Fluctuations in the emotional intelligence of therapy students during clinical placements: Implication for educators, supervisors, and students.

This study investigated the changes in emotional intelligence (EI) of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech pathology students (therapy students). Clinical placements have multiple benefits including the development of interprofessional skills, enhancing practice skills and interpersonal skills. Higher EI competencies have been shown to have a positive impact on patient outcomes, teamwork skills, dealing with stress, and patient satisfaction. Data for this study were collected at two time points: before third-year therapy students commenced extended clinical placements (T1 with 261 students) and approximately 7 months later after students had completed one or more clinical placements (T2 with 109 students). EI was measured using the Emotional Quotient Inventory 2.0 (EQ-i2.0). Only one EI score, assertiveness, demonstrated a significant decline. No EI score showed a significant increase. A third or more of the students showed increases of five points or more in self-actualisation, emotional expression, independence, reality testing and optimism. However, of concern were the five EI scores where therapy students' EI scores decreased by more than five points: assertiveness (where 38% of students declined), problem solving (37%), impulse control (35%), self-actualisation (35%), and stress tolerance (33%). With EI scores declining for some students during clinical placements, there are implications for clinical supervisors and interprofessional facilitators as clinical performance may decline concurrently. There is a range of potential reasons that clinical placements could negatively influence the EI competencies of a therapy student, including poor clinical supervision, conflict between a student, and supervisor and failing a clinical placement. The research suggests that interprofessional facilitators and university educators might consider students undertaking EI tests before clinical placements.

Strategies for interprofessional facilitators and clinical supervisors that may enhance the emotional intelligence of therapy students.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a critical skill for occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech pathology students (therapy students). This article reports the findings from an analysis of interviews with therapy students (n = 24) to determine the aspects of clinical placements that therapy students perceived as influencing the changes in EI scores. This article reports the findings of the qualitative phase of a longitudinal, retrospective mixed methods design. Interviewees were selected using purposive sampling. Of those interviewed, 95% agreed that clinical placements had a significant impact on a range of EI skills with changes being both positive and negative. Content analysis showed that students perceived their EI skills had changed because of the following aspects of clinical placements: student-supervisor interactions, student interactions with patients in emotional distress and being encouraged to reflect and hear feedback on their EI skills. To support and enhance student's EI skills, interprofessional facilitators and profession-specific supervisors are recommended to utilise the following strategies with interprofessional cohorts. Supervisors and facilitators should be emotionally in-tune with students and trust students to work autonomously with patients experiencing emotional distress, pain and loss, especially those with complex needs. Importantly, interprofessional facilitators and direct supervisors should encourage students to reflect on their EI skills both individually and as a group. Supervisors should frequently evaluate and provide feedback to students on their EI skills, at the same time as providing feedback on their practical and clinical reasoning skills.

Building competency in the novice allied health professional through peer coaching.

The development of competence is an ongoing journey, and one that is particularly punctuated in the early part of a health professional's career. These novice practitioners need to recognize that the challenges inherent in building competency might be resolved more readily by engaging with peers. This paper outlines what it means to be a novice practitioner, and how peer coaching can be used to support professional development in the allied health sciences. An overview of the reasoning process and how peer coaching and experiential learning can be used to build competence is described. A structured and formal approach to peer coaching is outlined in this paper. Novices who embrace this professional development strategy will find the model of coaching practice and underlying strategies described in this paper beneficial to their experience. The importance of formalizing the process and the underlying communication skills needed for coaching are described in detail with accompanying examples to illustrate the model in practice.