Generic working
Generic working
Feature and supporting with what they can bring to their role , for example individual team meetings , Band 5 development meetings and away days .
What are we learning ?
There are a number of things we ’ ve learnt about ourselves as healthcare professionals while working in generic roles , which make us highly skilled within them .
One is that occupational therapists naturally set goals , seemingly without thinking , which can seem quite alien to other healthcare professionals ; this is very helpful to guide and focus our interventions . We also encourage the use of reflective practice among colleagues and the wider team .
Second , so many of our occupational therapy skills really are transferrable ; organisation , structure , problem solving , goal setting and evaluation skills . We can always use examples of our current work – even if not specifically occupational therapy work – where we have brought and utilised our occupational therapy skills , for example setting up parts of a service , supervising other members of the team and bringing reflection to the team .
Third , occupational therapists offer very specific and clear interventions , with sound clinical reasoning . We don ’ t have any patients we are visiting to ‘ see how they ’ re getting on ’ – for each visit we know what we want to do and why .
Fourth , we ’ re also a lot more patient centred than we had realised . Frequently the aim of visits is to ‘ monitor mental state ’, but the aim would be to clarify the impact of current mental state on functioning and participating in meaningful occupations .
And finally , occupational therapists aren ’ t focused on diagnosis , but other professionals are interested in backgrounds to explain presentations , for example from a psychological perspective . It is very apparent that other team members find the background information useful , which is in contrast to the OT focus in assessing the current presentation .
Reassurances and techniques
There are reassurances about working in a generic role . You take responsibility for being self-aware of your limitations and training requirements , with the support of your team manager . Supervision and appraisals can be really helpful with this too .
Our manager is aware of concerns about maintaining HCPC registration and has this in mind when allocating patients and service development tasks , for example running a training session to the team around goal setting and leading on promoting the use of Wellness , Recovery , Action Plans ( WRAP plans ), which are brilliant at empowering patients to have their own voice and be treated in the way they want to , to get the best outcome for them .
It ’ s very motivating to learn new skills that seem ‘ outside of the box ’ from an occupational therapy perspective . Techniques to make the transition to generic role smoother have also been discussed , including :
• Be open to being challenged on your occupational therapy outlook , for example not focusing as strongly on occupation .
• Use your occupational therapy strengths within your practice – focus on meaningful occupations , use a problem-solving approach and provide patient centred care .
• Embrace the multiskilling opportunities in the role .
Challenges and tips
There are of course a number of challenges when working in a generic role :
• Get used to being referred to as ‘ one of the nurses ’ – it will take time for the team to embrace the change in occupational therapists working generically , but as it becomes more commonplace , it will be quicker .
• Be clear when you are being asked things outside your skill set and don ’ t hesitate to speak up . It ’ s fine not to know if a symptom is a side effect of a medication , but it ’ s important to know who to clarify with and ensure the patient is updated .
• Ride the imposter syndrome wave .
• Not introducing yourself as an occupational therapist ; it took a long time to get used to and it ’ s okay to say ‘ I ’ m also a trained OT ’.
• When working in a team with established occupational therapists , having a good open relationship is vital to ensure there are no blurred boundaries and nobody is stepping on anyone ’ s toes .
• OTs have a reputation for ensuring supervision takes place regularly and you may need to request supervision more than you have done before .
So far , working in a generic role has been interesting , motivating and allowed a lot of learning opportunities .
Words LAURA MURRAY , Senior Mental Health Practitioner , Perinatal Mental Health Team , ELFT , ALICE BRADY , Team Manager , Bedfordshire Early Intervention in Psychosis Service , ELFT and RACHEL PARSLOW , Psychological Therapist , Complex Needs Service , ELFT Laura . murray15 @ nhs . net , alice . brady1 @ nhs . net or rachel . parslow @ nhs . net
July 2023 OTnews 51