Recently on my rural placement i was taking an exercise class aimed at seniors. The class aims to get seniors to keep moving and doing exercise and is called 'Stay on your feet'. I was asked to take the class as it would be a good experience for me. I was looking forward to running the class as i hadnt instructed a class on my own before. At uni we had taken a class in groups but it was a lot different being on your own.
The main problem was that i didnt know the exercises that the group usually performed. The exercises were like an aerobics class and were surprising complicated as there were lots of steps to learn. I felt bad for the patients as it was going to be difficult for them to follow what i was doing because i didnt know the proper steps. My supervisor said it didnt matter what steps i did as long as they were safe. This reassured me somewhat but i still wanted to run the class as close to normal as possible.
I instructed the class and it seemed to go well but i felt i was doing some exercises for too long as they were the only ones i knew. Afterwards most of the patients said they enjoyed the class and didnt mind that i didnt know the proper steps. However, one of the patients was critical of my instructing and said that i was out of time and should of known the exercises. I told her i would work on it but because i hadnt done this kind of thing before it may take a while.
I was a bit annoyed that the patient had criticised me because i thought i had done pretty well considering it was my first attempt. However, i took the advice on board and worked on my timing. I started to notice how the music was always four beats and so i had to match the steps to the music. I worked on my timing and the next week the class went a lot better. To top it off the same patient who had criticised me the week before then congratulated me on my improvement.
I think its good to always take constructive criticism on board because it helps us to become better therapists. Has anyone had any similar experiences with patients providing feedback?
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Thanks for this interesting reflection Kevin. You bring up a whole heap of issues including the fact that it is hard to receive negative feedback from others about something that you have put a lot of time and energy into and that client/patients/carers etc don't always frame feedback in a sensitive manner and can be quite harsh (as can students, clinical supervisors, lecturers etc).
What I would like to comment on though is the fact that valuation of your performance as a therapist doesn't stop once you graduate. I remember my first week working in a major teaching hospital where a family of a patient who had suffered a major stroke were spending a round the clock vigil with her including during physio. Their stress over her circumstances resulted in them writing down everything that I did with her and questioning the senior about whether this was adequate or not. I would have preferred that they spoke directly to me about it, however I'm not sure how I would have reacted if it was framed in a way such as Kevin has described. Having received feedback for the last 4 years on your performance what do others feel is the most useful way to receive it?
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