As a student on a practice learning placement you feel as if you are in a tug-of-war. At one end of the scale you have the university and the practice assurance committee, at the other you have your practice assessor, the practice setting staff and service users. The main aim is to meet your national occupational standards, but of course you must also ensure that the workplace you are in is safe.
One of my practice settings was a young people's residential unit. One day another student and I were left alone with four young people. I knew this could lead to a problem as one of the young people had a high risk assessment. So we asked for another member of staff to join us - and someone did, but only for a few minutes.
Shortly after this a young person threw paint over my face, which began to burn. After trying to get the paint off I went into the staff office to fill out an incident form. The staff there were amused by the red marks on my face and seemed to regard what happened as a joke.
The next morning I notified my learning adviser of the incident and of the way it had been dealt with.
I was then called to a meeting at the unit. When I arrived I received a cold reception from staff but all I had done was whistle-blow.
In the meeting I was given a shocking ultimatum - return to work or leave the unit there and then. Reluctantly I chose to go back as I knew that if I couldn't find another placement I would fail the course. I had whistle-blown to protect the welfare of service users and staff and now I was being punished.
I remember a seminar on whistle-blowing during my first year.
I believed that I would never need to blow the whistle during my practice learning as the permanent staff would.
But I do not regret doing it. Service users rely on us to ensure they are safe and all workers, whether qualified or in training, must never be afraid of raising the alarm.
Angie Hind is a student social worker in her third year at university.
