ACRT

“STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE”

Updated by Students in May 2015

Welcome to the adult community rehab team (ACRT)

The following induction pack will contain some important information to support you to complete your placement.

It has been put together by previous students and hopefully with your experience you can add to the pack to support future students!

It is a work in progress but we have added some information that we think will be really useful for you to know.

The most important thing to remember is that time fly’s - this is a great placement and you will learn a lot, so don’t worry too much, enjoy your placement and make the most out of it!

GUIDELINES FOR STAFF DRESS – COMMUNITY

These guidelines should be used with the trust guidance on staff dress at work. Although the Adult Community Rehabilitation Team, Therapy at Home Team and Wheelchair Service do not have a uniform, it is essential that the service is represented in a clean, smart, culturally sensitive manner allowing for the practical needs specifictocommunity staff. These guidelines also help to ensure safe clinical practice. The way that staff, the team and the trust is perceived is to a large extent influenced by how staff dress and behave before the public. These guidelines are to enable staff within the trust to present themselves in a professional manner to clients in their care.

This policy applies to all clinical and non-clinical members of staff.

Face to face client activity

  • Staff must wear a valid identification badge at work in a clearly visible position.
  • Vest tops, halter neck tops or low cut tops should not be worn.
  • Tops must cover the torso fully at all times, tops should not be figure hugging
  • Leggings – tops/dresses worn with leggings should be at least knee length, leggings may not be worn without a top / dress.
  • Slogans or large brand logos on any item of clothing are not permitted.
  • Any colour of denims must not be worn
  • Trousers/shorts must be secured around waist and not low hanging or showing underwear.
  • Any clothing that could be regarded as threatening should not be worn (e.g. hooded tops, camouflage/military combat trousers, military style jackets).
  • Shoes should not be opened toed and should be flat soled.
  • Trainers may be worn but they must be clean, tidy and plain in colour
  • Staff should wear shoe covers when visiting homes where patients do not want shoes worn in their homes.
  • Jewellery should be kept to a minimum, earrings should be of a stud variety, and when treating clients, necklaces / scarves should not be worn.
  • Rings should be kept to a minimum.
  • Hair must be clean and tidy; long hair must be tied back.
  • Piercing (other than ear): One small nose stud may be permitted where worn for religious reasons. Other facial piercings are not permitted at any time.
  • False nails or nail extensions are not permitted where the staff member is directly involved in patient care.
  • In hot weather, shorts may be worn but must be knee length. Skirts may be worn but must be below knee length. Again therapists must consider how practical skirts and dresses are when treating clients, particularly when manual / therapeutic handling is required.

2) Office based dress

All of the above points should be followed at all times, however when in the office staff may:

  • Wear open toed shoes
  • Wear knee length skirts or dresses.
  • Discreet jewellery may be worn; one small nose stud may be permitted where worn for religious reasons. Other facial piercings are not permitted at any time.

All staff should be aware of the cultural sensitivity of their appearance and take steps to modify it accordingly.

The Head of Service / Deputy Head of Service reserves the right to veto any inappropriate dress with respect to the guidelines.

CITYMAPPER

Need to get around but don’t know the area? Don’t worry, there’s a great app to support you! If you have an android or iPhone, you can download a free app from Google playstore or Appstore which will help you get around. If you have an old phone, you can use the app online, just type in “citymapper” in Google.

Downloading the app

Open your store up and type in “citymapper”. The first suggestion that comes up is usually the correct one. It should look like this:

Using the app

Once you have downloaded the app, you can use it to get you to a client’s house without trouble. This helped us out a great deal. Follow the instructions, it’s easy to use and over time you’ll get used to the features.

To get somewhere, open up the app and click on “get me somewhere”. Make sure your location service is switched to “on” (phone settings) so that the map can automatically detect your location (otherwise you can type in your location manually). Type in the postcode of your client and click on “get route” at the top right hand side.

This will bring up a page with lots of route suggestions. As our clients don’t live to far, you can usually get to their house by bus. If you click on the arrow next to the bus suggestion, it will bring up a page with specific directions. This also happens with train and walking/cycling routes.

Taxi, cycling and walking suggestions

Overground, train and bus suggestions

Bus suggestions only, click on the bus route you want to use to get specific directions. The page will look like this:

The great thing about this app is that if you click on the “i” symbol, it will track the bus stops and let you know exactly which bus stop you need to get off at.

The blue dot moves with you as you pass each stop and will tell you exactly which stop you need to get off at. When you get off at the correct stop, open up your usual navigation system on your phone (or use the citymapper map) to walk the rest of the way to the client’s house.

This may seem tricky, but it’s really simple and a very effective way of getting around independently!

SAFETY & SECURITY

Safety is paramount and must be taken seriously at all times. Please read the security protocol to orient yourself to the security procedures used by the team. The main safety & security protocols you must be aware of are:

The “Bobby” system

The bobby system is used by the team to ensure safety when team members are on home visits. This involves one team member being the “bobby” every week and therefore being responsible in checking that all staff members are safely home at the end of the day. As students you will not be responsible for being a “bobby”. However, you will be responsible for supporting the “bobby” by remembering to update the “In/Out” board located outside the office.

The Physical Team bobby phone number is 07880-780527

In/Out board

Getting used to updating the in/out board is quite important. It’s very simple, but often easy to forget. Your educator will put your name on the board. You MUST remember to slide the bar to “out” every time you leave the building. Whether this is for a visit or simply to get some lunch, you must indicate that you are out. Likewise, every time you get back into the building you must slide the bar to “in” to indicate that you’re in. This is an important fire safety procedure, as if a fire alarm goes off and the building is evacuated, the fire marshal can look at the board and immediately know who is on site and who isn’t. To support the “bobby” when you go home, you MUST remember to put an “H” sticker by your name. This indicates that you are safely home. If you go on a visit and you’re going home directly after, don’t put a “H” by your name when you leave the office. Slide the bar to “out” and contact your educator or the bobby after your visit so that they can out a “H” by your name. It’s easy to forget sometimes, but do try your best to get on board with the system as soon as possible.

Using diaries to record appointments with clients

The team encourage the use of diaries to record appointments with clients. The team will have created a 5 week diary for you for your time here. You can print a paper copy and also have it electronically. Any diaries or notebooks with client information must be either locked in an office drawer, or placed in the admin cabinet (in the admin office) at the end of the day. This is why use of personal diaries is not advised, as you can’t take them home with you if it includes client information. If you want to take information home with you, it must be anonymised.

Final note, please do read the extensive safety protocol and ask your educator about “emergency calls” while out on visits.

Booking Transport

Please email Jo Connier or Craig Briscoe in ACRT Amin to book transport for your client.

Documentation

Follow steps 1-5 if you need to create a document e.g. Intervention summary etc.

1)Open up and log on to Rio

2)Click on the “document” tab at the top

3)Select “edit and open documents”

4)On the drop down menu select “ACRT all letters”

5)Click on “ok”

Progress notes and outcomed appointments

All clients should have their home visit or gym session recorded in a progress note on Rio. This must be validated asap.

The appointment should be put into Rio and outcomed.

Accessing documents on “K-drive”

Accessing documents is easy, once IT have set you up you can access client information and important documents from the K-drive folder.

To access the K-drive

1)Click on “my computer”

2)Double click on “Physical Disabilities” and the ACRT

Here you will find all documents for ACRT

To access client folders

3)Follow steps 1-2 above

4)Click on “client reports”

5)Click on Physical or Neuro and then “2015” or the year you are in.

6)Either scroll or press the first letter of the clients surname to select their folder. E.g If the clients name was Joe Bloggs, to make it easier to find their name you would press “B” and keep pressing it until you come to Bloggs, Joe

There is a lot of useful information in the K-drive, some will be relevant others won’t be. Have a look around and orient yourself to the folder so that you can independently find what you need.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS

During your time at ACRT (PHYSICAL) you will work with clients who have a range of Physical conditions. During your placement, you will be required to present one case study on a client you have seen. Hopefully you will find this helpful as it will enable you to learn about the conditions the client has, the outcome measures used for the intervention, and the normative data in a similar aged population. It will showthe team what you have learnt during the placement.

NEURO CONDITIONS

During your time at ACRT (Neuro) you will work with clients who have a range of neurological conditions. During our placement, we were required to report on one condition of our choice during supervision. This was helpful as it enabled us to learn new conditions and showed our educators what we learnt. The following are posters/information that we put together of the conditions we researched whilst on placement. Please add to the folder and use what we’ve made to support your learning!