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| With a few road works around, traffic has been a bit slow.... more time to enjoy the view! |
I've got another nice older lady that I'm working with, and we've established a good love-hate relationship (in a comical sense). She would spot me and give me the look like "you had better not be getting me up". I would, naturally, go do the opposite - we would have a joke about it. She's awesome because she is very motivated to get herself down the long hallway to the gym - her room is the furthest away from the gym on that corridor. Once in the gym, she would walk herself down the long parallel bars. Good on her. ...later in the week my supervisor and I were discussing her de-conditioned legs. The patient said "deconditioning, you just made that up - it's probably not even in the dictionary" to which my supervisor replied "deconditioning is in the dictionary... it's right next to air-conditioning".
On Tuesday I attended an evening seminar "How to walk off your Parkinson's symptoms" by international guest and author John Pepper (book tittled Reverse Parkinson's Disease). John has PD, but has used high intensity walking and conscious movements to overcome his parkinson symptoms. Although I didn't learn anything new, it was nice to hear this man's story - it always appreciated more coming from a person with first hand experience. The AT&R crew (physios and physio aids) all attended this seminar. Following the seminar we popped out to The Free House for a beer.
Wednesday was a quiet day. We had quite a few overflow patients from the medical ward which we agreed made the AT&R ward look like a retirement home village. I had the community physiotherapist sit in on a session with a patient whom I have referred to him. We will hopefully have a home visit with her next week (I'm just tagging along). Otherwise, I took my patients for extended sessions in the gym.
Backtracking to Wednesday morning after hydrotherapy, I returned a patient to her room. She was sharing a room with another lady who usually does hydrotherapy with us, however she was being discharged in an hour or so (thus not at the pool with us). As I was wishing her well for her return home she told me how she was scared the first time she went into the hydrotherapy pool, in particular using the water controlled hydrolic hoist (it rattles and shakes sometimes). She had a very sore hip and hadn't been in the pool for a long time. Between those three things, she was a little bit anxious. Anyway, she recalled a firm hand being placed on her back and a sense of safety for what was happening. That firm hand was mine, I was in my togs, in the pool along side her. Her thanks was very sincere - that firm hand on her back had made all the difference, that first day of hydrotherapy. Yay, another heart warming moment!
Things to watch out for on AT&R
I had my clinical educator in on Thursday. With minimal new patients to practice new assessments with over the week, all I could do was to try my best with a Medical Ward overflow patient... a patient in AT&R just because we had an available bed. ...Another non-neuro patient to assess. I've had a poor run with very few new patients to assess this placement. I've done my best, but there's no way I'm up to the standard the assessors are after. I've decided it's not all my fault, there's nothing I can really do about it. The clinical intervention really has not helped at all - I feel that it's all very well having an intervention, but with no consistent new people to practice new assessments on there is little point. In addition I've had a confusing few patient assessments with my clinical educator - a few communication and expectation mismatches, so really I'm at a point where I know there is no coming back from this situation. I'm now prepared to fail this placement... having talked to my clinical educator and my supervisor about it, I have put my mind at ease. I feel a little hard-done-by, but I'll get on with the last week, next week, and try and finish on a high note (I'll dedicate this week to myself and my neuro patients...) Failing a paper means that I will be back for another neuro placement next year.
Friday was a fairly good day. I had my usual patients in the morning, two amputees in the afternoon (both of these patients have recently received their prosthesis from Wellington Limb Clinic) and I had my peer review (again... because it was recommended that the physio student watch me do an initial assessment). This was done without too many problems. Initially I wasn't sure whether I was going to get to do the assessment... due to it being an afternoon admission to AT&R and my supervisors finishing earlier on in the afternoon. Anyway, we got there in the end.
...Bring on my last week of neuro placement for the year... lets end it on a high note!
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| Sitting in the AT&R ward lounge, looking through to the dining room... |
Wednesday was a quiet day. We had quite a few overflow patients from the medical ward which we agreed made the AT&R ward look like a retirement home village. I had the community physiotherapist sit in on a session with a patient whom I have referred to him. We will hopefully have a home visit with her next week (I'm just tagging along). Otherwise, I took my patients for extended sessions in the gym.
Backtracking to Wednesday morning after hydrotherapy, I returned a patient to her room. She was sharing a room with another lady who usually does hydrotherapy with us, however she was being discharged in an hour or so (thus not at the pool with us). As I was wishing her well for her return home she told me how she was scared the first time she went into the hydrotherapy pool, in particular using the water controlled hydrolic hoist (it rattles and shakes sometimes). She had a very sore hip and hadn't been in the pool for a long time. Between those three things, she was a little bit anxious. Anyway, she recalled a firm hand being placed on her back and a sense of safety for what was happening. That firm hand was mine, I was in my togs, in the pool along side her. Her thanks was very sincere - that firm hand on her back had made all the difference, that first day of hydrotherapy. Yay, another heart warming moment!
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| A date scone baked by our wonderful physiotherapy assistant... the delicious Wednesday tradition! Yum! |
Things to watch out for on AT&R
- Catheters and patient's exercising can be a recipe for disaster.
- If you stand on the sensor mat by accident, you can rest assure it won't be a secret and the nurse will come. P.s. a sensor mat alerts the nurses that a patient has probably fallen or is trying to wander without assistance.
- Hand hygiene audits... On Thursday we were all under the watchful eye of a nurse carrying out the monthly hand hygiene audit. Early in the morning I walked passed my supervisor who was being followed by this nurse. He was firing cheeky comments her way until I happened to walk passed. He then said "follow him", and she turned around to follow me down to the patient's room. I was taking a patient back from the pool to their room thinking 'it's going to be a good day, this nurse is ready to take the patient from me to give them a shower'. I was wrong.
I had my clinical educator in on Thursday. With minimal new patients to practice new assessments with over the week, all I could do was to try my best with a Medical Ward overflow patient... a patient in AT&R just because we had an available bed. ...Another non-neuro patient to assess. I've had a poor run with very few new patients to assess this placement. I've done my best, but there's no way I'm up to the standard the assessors are after. I've decided it's not all my fault, there's nothing I can really do about it. The clinical intervention really has not helped at all - I feel that it's all very well having an intervention, but with no consistent new people to practice new assessments on there is little point. In addition I've had a confusing few patient assessments with my clinical educator - a few communication and expectation mismatches, so really I'm at a point where I know there is no coming back from this situation. I'm now prepared to fail this placement... having talked to my clinical educator and my supervisor about it, I have put my mind at ease. I feel a little hard-done-by, but I'll get on with the last week, next week, and try and finish on a high note (I'll dedicate this week to myself and my neuro patients...) Failing a paper means that I will be back for another neuro placement next year.
Friday was a fairly good day. I had my usual patients in the morning, two amputees in the afternoon (both of these patients have recently received their prosthesis from Wellington Limb Clinic) and I had my peer review (again... because it was recommended that the physio student watch me do an initial assessment). This was done without too many problems. Initially I wasn't sure whether I was going to get to do the assessment... due to it being an afternoon admission to AT&R and my supervisors finishing earlier on in the afternoon. Anyway, we got there in the end.
...Bring on my last week of neuro placement for the year... lets end it on a high note!
Next week I will also be providing an in-service presentation and probably a plate of food to share to say thanks to the healthcare team and my supervisors in AT&R.
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