Open AccessEvaluating Patients’ Attitudes Towards Being Assessed and Treated by Undergraduate Physiotherapy Students in a Rehabilitation Centre
Author(s) -
Kathy Stiller,
Marissa Sorich,
Kate Roberts
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the internet journal of allied health sciences and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1540-580X
DOI - 10.46743/1540-580x/2013.1425
Subject(s) - rehabilitation , feeling , health care , medicine , physical therapy , descriptive statistics , psychology , nursing , medical education , social psychology , statistics , mathematics , economics , economic growth
Purpose: Clinical placements are an important component in the education of students who are training in the healthcare professions. The degree of patient satisfaction with being assessed and treated by healthcare students is also important as part of the overall evaluation of healthcare and student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate inpatients’ attitudes towards being assessed and treated by undergraduate physiotherapy students at one rehabilitation centre in Australia. Method: Sixty-one of 69 eligible inpatients completed a purpose-designed survey. Analyses were descriptive in nature. Results: Overall, high levels of satisfaction were demonstrated, including the process of consent, the amount of supervision provided to the students, the standard of care, and personal feelings about being treated by physiotherapy students. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the standard of care provided by undergraduate physiotherapy students to inpatients at the rehabilitation centre, as rated by patients, is high. This research was straightforward to conduct and has identified areas where the service can be further improved.