Managing and Preventing Placement-Based Fatigue in Radiography and Allied Health Students: A Narrative Review

Clinical placement plays a key role in the education of allied health students by providing real-world experiences required to develop professional competence and confidence. For radiography students, extensive unpaid clinical placements form a substantial component of professional training. Despite their educational value, clinical placements expose students to physical, emotional, and financial stressors that may contribute to fatigue. This narrative review aimed to investigate current and potential support systems, alternatives to placement, and healthy coping strategies available to radiography and allied health students to assist in the prevention and management of placement-based fatigue. A structured literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, ScienceDirect, and CINAHL databases was undertaken, supplemented by grey literature searching. The limited literature supports that mindfulness and resilience workshops as well as exercise and therapeutic touch are potential interventions for managing placement-based fatigue. These practices were found to decrease fatigue along with fatigue-related symptoms such as stress and emotional exhaustion. The availability of appropriate financial aid systems was also identified as a solution to preventing placement-based fatigue. Integrated simulated placement was additionally found to be a possible alternative to placement, but potentially difficult to implement. The limited evidence suggests that the management and prevention of placement-based fatigue in allied health students have several potential interventions. However, more research needs to be conducted to study the effects of these interventions, particularly on radiography students and third- and fourth-year allied health students to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of these interventions.