Work-integrated learning is a highly effective approach to help support the development of practical skills and acquisition of industry experience, and as radiographers we must understand the importance of attendance and our role as part of a healthcare team.  Any unexpected absence or poor time-management can negatively impact patient care and team dynamics.

This unit requires full-time attendance at a placement site arranged by the University for 16 weeks. You are required to achieve 100% attendance during your clinical placement. Any non attendance must be justified and verifiable supporting documentation must be supplied to your unit coordinator. You must inform the unit coordinator and your clinical supervisor of any absences. It may be that non attendance requires that you undertake supplementary clinical placements to make up any time lost. You are not permitted to work extra shifts back to back in order to reduce the duration of clinical placement. You must attend on your final day of clinical placement.

You have five (5) days of personal leave built into this placement but must still attend for 16 weeks in total. The personal leave may be taken as a block or in separate days and must be taken only with the agreement of your clinical supervisor.

To obtain a grade of 'Pass' for this assessment you must:

• Meet the 100% attendance requirement or that any non attendance is documented and justified.
• Upload your log book within 3 calendar days of the last shift worked of every 2nd week of the placement.

The clinical logbook serves as a record of the depth and breadth of experience attained during your placement and will be a useful tool as you apply for employment. It demonstrates the degree of progression of your skill development within and across procedure types. You should use this record to inform your reflection on learning and in formulating weekly learning goals that will support achievement of the unit outcomes.

You must record in the electronic log tool a weekly listing of every imaging procedure in which you participate. Procedure information is to be recorded in such a way as to maintain patient confidentiality. Your level of involvement in the procedure is to be categorised as observed, assisted or performed, using the definitions provided. Any performance assessments that have been attempted must also be recorded. You must also log any meetings, image critique sessions or other feedback/learning activities with your clinical supervisor or other clinical educator. Any absences from the department must be logged in the log book.

Even though you will be recording your weekly attendance and imaging examinations under the relevant week within the logbook, you will only be required to upload the logbook fortnightly, within 3 calendar days of the last shift completed of every second week of placement.

To obtain a grade of 'Pass' for this assessment you must:

• Ensure that the log book is complete and accurate in relation to attendance, your participation in imaging examinations, assessments you have attempted, as well as supervisor meetings and/or other educational activities.
• Ensure that the log book is submitted within 3 calendar days of the last shift worked of every second week of placement.
• Ensure that the entries in the log book maintain the confidentiality of patients and clinical staff.

Should any week's upload have noticeable gaps, errors or omissions, you will be given one week to resubmit that week's log.

At this stage in your professional education, as a close-to-graduating radiographer, your performance should be consistent and holistic in nature, taking into account the needs of the patient, carers and the wider care team.

At weeks 8 and 16 of your placement your clinical supervisor or a supervising radiographer who has been delegated this role will perform a global assessment of your performance in general imaging examinations using the standard assessment form provided on the unit Moodle site.

These assessments are designed to offer an overview of your performance over time rather than the "snapshot" performance assessments used in previous clinical units.

At week 8 - You should achieve a minimum level of "consolidating" in all areas. If any areas of competency fall below the required level, you must complete a remediation plan detailing how you intend to improve your performance in the required area/s. This remediation plan must be submitted and approved by both your clinical supervisor and the unit coordinator by the end of week 10. During week 12, the area/s of practice in need of remediation must be re-assessed. The assessments in week 8, and 12 (if required), are formative but you should aim for a level of "consolidating" if you are to succeed in the summative assessment in week 16.

At week 16 - In order to successfully complete this unit you must demonstrate all of the competency areas at a minimum level of “competent”.

Assessed upon:

• Degree of independence when performing imaging examinations
• Clinical reasoning
• Protocol use
• Effective imaging
• Time efficiency during imaging
• Image evaluation
• Care and courtesy to patients and staff
• Communication with patients and staff
• Composure
• Reflective practice
• Self development

To achieve a grade of 'Pass' for this assessment you must:

• Submit the assessment form for performance in general imaging examinations within 3 calendar days at the end of the week in which the assessment was performed.
• Attain a minimum score of "competent" in all areas of the assessment rubric for the assessment completed in week 16.

At this stage in your professional education, as a close-to-graduating radiographer, your performance should be consistent and holistic in nature, taking into account the needs of the patient, carers and the wider care team.

During this practicum, you are required to attain entry-to-practice skill in two additional areas within the scope of practice of a general radiographer. These can be any two from the list below, according to what is available at the facility you are attending for the practicum. You will need to consult with your clinical supervisor to determine two suitable areas of practice and to arrange your roster to attain several weeks of experience in each.

• Basic computed tomography including contrast examinations, but not including angiography examinations
• Basic fluoroscopic guidance procedures, not including theatre imaging
• Imaging procedures that require a team approach and complex imaging requirements. This may include, but is not limited to, the resuscitation area, major trauma or highly involved patient needs.
• Theatre fluoroscopic imaging
• Interventional radiography
• Mammography

These assessments are designed to offer an overview of your performance over time rather than the "snapshot" performance assessments used in previous clinical units.

You must achieve a level of "consolidating" in both areas. If any area of practice falls below this level, you must complete a remediation plan detailing how you intend to improve your performance in the required area/s. This remediation plan must be submitted to and approved by your clinical supervisor and unit coordinator within one calendar week of the assessment.

You are strongly advised to complete both of these assessments by week 12 in order to allow time for the development, approval and implementation of a remediation plan if needed. Within the remaining 3 weeks of your clinical placement, the area/s of practice in need of remediation must be re-assessed, achieving a level of "consolidating".

Assessed upon:

• Team-work
• Effective imaging
• Time efficiency during imaging
• Logical work-flow
• Care and communication with patients
• Communication and collaboration with staff

To achieve a grade of 'Pass' in this assessment you must:

• Submit the assessment form for performance in other imaging procedures within 3 calendar at the end of the week in which the assessment was performed.
• Attain a minimum score of "consolidating" in all areas of the assessment rubric.

Critical reflection and reflective practice are recognised as being valuable in the development of health professionals.  As a student radiographer, you have reflected on your practice many times and this process will continue throughout your career to enable you to progress to becoming an expert practitioner.

During the 16 week clinical practicum you must complete two (2) reflective pieces from the list of three choices below:

• Consider identified gaps in your learning and a strategy to remediate them.
• Consider your patient care skills and professionalism demonstrated in the workplace and how you plan to develop/enhance these skills.
• Consider your understanding and confidence in more specialised areas of practice, together with a strategy to ensure your continued development in your chosen area.

Each piece must be of approximately 500 words, using references where appropriate.

Each reflection must be of approximately 500 words, with a maximum word count of 700 words, and patient and staff confidentiality must be maintained at all times.

To obtain a 'Pass' grade for this assessment you must:

• Critically analyse your professional practice
• Critically reflect on how you may improve your own clinical performance or interpersonal skills
• Demonstrate how reflection will assist in your learning and development

A detailed rubric outlining minimum requirements will be posted on the unit Moodle site.

Because this is a Pass/Fail assessment item, in the absence of an approved extension, failure to submit reflections by the due dates will result in a 'Fail' score for this assessment, and that will result in a 'Fail' grade for the unit.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a vital aspect of being an imaging professional. It ensures that we remain up-to-date in our practice through reading journal articles, attending workshops, and attending and presenting at educational sessions and conferences.  This task is designed to develop your skills in CPD and help you become familiar with the concept, in preparation for registration.

Task

Develop a PowerPoint, or similar type of presentation that covers one of the following subjects:

• Research or audit that you have conducted related to an aspect of radiographic practice. Explain the research methods and results and how this new knowledge may help your development, the radiography profession and/or the patient. You must not report on an audit undertaken for assessment in any previous units.
• An article detailing a novel or innovative imaging procedure or practice that may improve diagnosis, reduce radiation dose or improve patient care or treatment. This article should inform the viewer about the imaging procedure or practice, explain why it is an improvement on any current procedures in use and how it achieves the aims of improved diagnostic ability, reduced radiation dose or improved patient care or treatment.
• A case study completed during your clinical unit. This should inform the viewer about the presentation of the patient and the imaging performed, the pathology in question, the clinical significance of the pathology and the imaging strategies employed to confirm or refute the pathology.

The presentation may be a narrated PowerPoint presentation or a video of you presenting to your colleagues in the clinical area. If a video is used you must also submit the PowerPoint presentation slides via the unit Moodle site.

To obtain a 'Pass' grade for this assessment you must meet the minimum requirements in each of the following areas:

• Clear, concise description of your chosen area
• Clear, concise description of how this work will help in your development as an imaging professional
• Clarity of speech, ability to speak beyond slides, correct and appropriate use of terminology for the audio component
• Visibility of slides or other visual resources for the video component
• Content selection and organisation, including: selection of key points, relevance to audience, logical sequencing of content, inclusion of references used, cohesiveness of video and audio components
• Correct use and citation of references

A marking rubric detailing the minimum requirements for each category will be posted on the unit Moodle site.

Because this is a Pass/Fail assessment item, in the absence of an approved extension, failure to submit by the due date will result in a 'Fail' score for this assessment, and that will result in a 'Fail' grade for the unit.