Study Skills for Health and Social Care Students

Claire Craig

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781446245224
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Research in Education

Study Skills for Health and Social Care Students will help students to build up their confidence through developing the key skills required for both academic study and clinical practice.

Claire Craig introduces all the skills necessary to bridge the gap between study and practice, with a strong focus on the contextualisation of skills and their transferability to the clinical setting. Fundamental skills and principles for researching, processing information and for communicating and expressing findings are all covered, along with practical advice on:

• Organising your learning
• Accessing support
• Recording ideas and information
• Expressing ideas in writing
• Working with others.

The guidance provided here will be invaluable for students and professionals in the health sciences, including social care, social work, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and nursing.
SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips, quizzes and videos on study success!

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Part I

Introduction

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1	In the beginning...

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This is the book I longed to read when I was a student many years ago. Although I had studied for a degree before, I did not find the transition to being a student in health and social care an easy one to make. I struggled to see the links between what I learned in the classroom and what I would be doing in practice. Sessions in academic or key skills left me cold as I really could not see the point of learning how to take notes or write essays. ‘After all’, I told myself ‘when did writing an essay help a patient?’ I was desperate for placement and the opportunity for hands-on experience.

Yet placement came as a shock. I found it hard to manage my time, prioritise whom I should see and when I should see them. Being part of a team also brought its own challenges. The hardest part, though, was getting to grips with the vast quantities of reports, records and notes I needed to keep. Needless to say, I scraped through, but only just.

Then on my second placement I had a breakthrough. I had inadvertently brought my academic skills folder with me and with little to do in the evenings I started to read it. As I did I suddenly realised that the steps to writing assignments, taking notes and giving presentations at university were surprisingly similar to the skills required to write reports, keep records and share information at the many case conferences on placement. The only real difference was the context. This was a light bulb moment. As soon as I understood the relevance I applied myself to these so-called academic skills and saw the marks I gained for assignments and on placement improve on a meteoric trajectory.

Things have travelled full circle. I now help my students make the links between academic skills and the core skills and competencies required for placement. I listen to their ‘ah ha!’ moments as they begin to relate the two.

I hope that you will enjoy reading this book, that it will result in your own ‘ah ha!’ moments and help you to place academic skills in their widest context, leading to every success at university, on placement, in practice and beyond.

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2	How to gain the most from this text

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Congratulations. In choosing to pursue a career in health and social care you are embarking on an exciting journey that will stretch you to the limit and lead to an extremely rewarding future.

This book will provide you with the necessary underpinning skills to ensure that you gain the most out of your course. You will learn how to read ruthlessly, think, structure your ideas, write well, develop techniques to cope with pressure and find ways to manage your time. As a result this book will:

• Help you to make connections between what you learn in the classroom and what you learn on placement
• Prepare you for practice experience
• Enable you to understand who you are, the skills you already have and how to hone these
• Demystify some of the language you will inevitably encounter
• Ground your learning through case studies and examples
• Make learning into a fun and enjoyable experience

Finding your way around the text

The book looks at the main academic skills required by all student health and social care practitioners. It starts by putting these skills into their broadest context and helps you to understand how skills developed in the classroom relate to placement and vice versa.

This is followed by a quick ‘survival guide’ to get you through the first few weeks of university life, describing some of the things you may encounter. The book is then divided into three broad sections:

• Organising your learning. This section focuses on the self-management skills that will underpin your personal and professional development, with tips about how to set and achieve goals, ways to manage your time, techniques you can use to cope with anxiety and the wider support mechanisms you may need to tap into.
• Building and developing skills. Here the focus is on the academic skills you need to succeed. From how to research information to expressing your ideas in writing, this section contains it all.
• Planning and preparing for the future. This final element of the book helps you to move beyond university. It offers advice to help you gain your dream job and describes ways to engage with a lifelong learning process.

Navigating the text

Each chapter contains a number of ingredients including:

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JARGON-BUSTING

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where key words are demystified and technical terminology translated into English.

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AT A GLANCE

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a quick (and often humorous) way of deciding whether the chapter is relevant for you.

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STARTING POINTS

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a series of self-tests, quizzes or questionnaires to help you recognise your skills and identify gaps in your knowledge.

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KEYS TO SUCCESS

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tools, rules and techniques required to unlock your potential and succeed in your studies. Case studies, student narratives and model answers provide concrete examples of how to apply your learning.

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SKILLS IN PRACTICE

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this section moves away from the classroom to show you how to develop and apply your skills on placement.

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IN A NUTSHELL

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a summary of the information contained in the chapter.

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References and signposts to further reading and resources

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offering links to further resources you may find useful.

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Who is this book aimed at?

This book is relevant for students undertaking programmes of study or courses related to health and social care practice, including general nursing, mental health nursing, midwifery, paramedic practice, operating department practice, radiography, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and social work.

It recognises that you are bringing with you a unique set of skills based on your previous experience and that a number of different pathways and routes of study lead to qualification. The book is relevant for students on full-time or part-time courses, can be used in work-based learning contexts and is suitable for individuals studying to diploma or degree level.

A website accompanying the book can be found at www.skills4health.co.uk. This contains a wealth of additional materials, including two-minute tutorials, links to further resources and a number of quizzes to help test your skills and further broaden your understanding. It also includes a template for a persona...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Part I Introduction
• Part II Organising your Learning
• Part III Building and Developing Skills
• Part IV Planning and Preparing for the Future
• Endings and New Beginnings
• Index