Before Preceptorship: New Occupational Therapists' Expectations of Practice and Experience of Supervision

摘要

Each year, approximately a thousand newly qualified occupational therapists apply to join the United Kingdom (UK) Health Professions Council (HPC) register prior to entering practice (HPC 2006, personal communication). The high expectations that such therapists have of their work are not always met, however, leading some to develop 'reality shock' as a result (Kramer 1974, pi, Nordholm and Westbrook 1987, Greensmith and Blumfield 1989, Rugg 1996, 1999, Sutton and Griffin 2000, Ohman et al 2002, Richardson et al 2002). This phenomenon, characterised by high levels of stress, value conflict and role uncertainty, affects new practitioners from many health care disciplines (McCartney et al 1993, Allen 1994, Bebbington 1996, Marsh and Triseliotis 1996, Tryssenaar and Perkins 2001, Eraut et al 2003, Mandy and Tinley 2004).