I found this placement quiet challenging. I did enjoy the cardio-respiratory side to this placement, and I found that the practical side of cardio-respiratory is very similar to the theoretical side that we learn in university.
I found I became very exhausted over this placement, I found I got very little sleep trying to get too and from Fremantle Hospital in peak hour traffic and then coming home in the same traffic, I was spending over 2 hours a day driving. I did have my own caseload in this placement on some days, other days I would work with a partner, this was advantageous because; with some patients who had a number of “attachments” it was essential to have a second pair of hands.
I ended up working in the surgical ward for over 3 weeks and then I was able to work on the general medical ward for the last 2 weeks. This was really good because I was able to see a range of different chest presentations. I got to treat patients who were at the end stage COPD, and others with chronic bronchitis on the general medical ward, but on the surgical ward I was able to get exposure to all the chest complications that can be resultant from surgery and in addition to that all the attachments a patient can have . I entered ICU about 3 times during my placement. It was great to be able to have that exposure, because the runnings of ICU differed greatly from the running’s over the whole hospital.
I got to see one pulmonary rehabilitation class at the end of my placement. It was good to get exposure to this class, I wasn’t asked to run the class but it was good to observe how they conducted the session.
I think I learnt a lot about subjective questioning in this placement, I think I improved my auscultation skills greatly as well as my reading of chest X-rays, I learnt how to refine my communication skills with patients and how to articulate myself more precisely.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
WEEK 5-ENTRY 3
Situation
In the fifth week of my placement I was asked to give chest care advice to a 66 year old man who was 1 day post-op for a laparotomy ( upper abdominal surgery) to remove a section of his bowel that was cancerous . This man had a past medical history of type 2 diabetes melinitus, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease and a MI (2008). He lives with his wife, they have no stairs in their home and they receive no services. This man usually ambulates unaided and can walk up to 1 kilometre without needing a rest. This man was resting in bed but was in a lot of pain, scoring 7/10 at rest.
Task
I was asked to go treat this man who had undergone a laparotomy 1 day ago.
Action
I performed a subjective interview with this man and I found out a lot of the information mentioned above, I also found out that he was in a lot of pain. I then performed a objective examination and found his problem list to be 1) pain 2) decreased lung volumes 3) impaired gass exchange 4 ) reduced exercise tolerance.
I then tried to address his problems;
Intervention
This is what I did with this man:
- Taught supported cough with a rolled up towel.
- Educated him on sitting upright in bed.
- Active cycle of breathing techniques x 3 repetitions ( 5x thoracic expansion exercises)
- Gave him circulation exercises for his lower limbs (x 10 rep)
- Gave him post-operation chest education.
Result
I gave this man an effective way to clear his chest (by coughing) without increasing his levels of pain in his abdomen. And I optimised his lung function through positioning and deep breathing exercises, I also educated him on the effects of surgery on the chest.
Evaluation
I think the session went pretty averagely. I ended up saying all that I needed to tell the patient about his chest care; however I think there were a lot of improvements I could have made to the session.
The strengths in the session were; that I related well to the patient. I gave the patient all the appropriate advice they needed for correct physiotherapy chest care and he performed his exercises well under my direction.
However, there were a few weaknesses with my session as well, the structure of my advice was a bit haphazard, it needed to be more organised. At one point my patient became confused, and I needed to clarify a few of the things I was saying.
Another weakness that my supervisor pointed out; was the fact that I got a patient to do a activity and then explained the benefits after they did it, my supervisor said that it would be better to explain the benefits of something before you get a patient to perform the task. Lastly I should have made sure my patient had adequate pain relief ( checked if the nurse could give him some more pain relief) before talking to him, as his extremely high levels of pain could have affected his understanding of what I was explaining to him.
Strategies
I thought up a few good strategies that would help me when I have to perform post operational education on patients
- don’t use jargon, or medical terminology when explaining things to patients
- have a well thought out ‘post-operation’ spiel to tell patients who have undergone abdominal surgery, so they know the risks associated with surgery and the implications it has on the chest.
- Tell the patients the benefits of doing an exercise/treatment before actually getting them to perform it, as this well increase their motivation to perform a treatment and they will know the purpose of the treatment.
- Ask the patient if they have understood what your explaining to them
- Ask the patient if they have anymore questions associated with your treatment.
In the fifth week of my placement I was asked to give chest care advice to a 66 year old man who was 1 day post-op for a laparotomy ( upper abdominal surgery) to remove a section of his bowel that was cancerous . This man had a past medical history of type 2 diabetes melinitus, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease and a MI (2008). He lives with his wife, they have no stairs in their home and they receive no services. This man usually ambulates unaided and can walk up to 1 kilometre without needing a rest. This man was resting in bed but was in a lot of pain, scoring 7/10 at rest.
Task
I was asked to go treat this man who had undergone a laparotomy 1 day ago.
Action
I performed a subjective interview with this man and I found out a lot of the information mentioned above, I also found out that he was in a lot of pain. I then performed a objective examination and found his problem list to be 1) pain 2) decreased lung volumes 3) impaired gass exchange 4 ) reduced exercise tolerance.
I then tried to address his problems;
Intervention
This is what I did with this man:
- Taught supported cough with a rolled up towel.
- Educated him on sitting upright in bed.
- Active cycle of breathing techniques x 3 repetitions ( 5x thoracic expansion exercises)
- Gave him circulation exercises for his lower limbs (x 10 rep)
- Gave him post-operation chest education.
Result
I gave this man an effective way to clear his chest (by coughing) without increasing his levels of pain in his abdomen. And I optimised his lung function through positioning and deep breathing exercises, I also educated him on the effects of surgery on the chest.
Evaluation
I think the session went pretty averagely. I ended up saying all that I needed to tell the patient about his chest care; however I think there were a lot of improvements I could have made to the session.
The strengths in the session were; that I related well to the patient. I gave the patient all the appropriate advice they needed for correct physiotherapy chest care and he performed his exercises well under my direction.
However, there were a few weaknesses with my session as well, the structure of my advice was a bit haphazard, it needed to be more organised. At one point my patient became confused, and I needed to clarify a few of the things I was saying.
Another weakness that my supervisor pointed out; was the fact that I got a patient to do a activity and then explained the benefits after they did it, my supervisor said that it would be better to explain the benefits of something before you get a patient to perform the task. Lastly I should have made sure my patient had adequate pain relief ( checked if the nurse could give him some more pain relief) before talking to him, as his extremely high levels of pain could have affected his understanding of what I was explaining to him.
Strategies
I thought up a few good strategies that would help me when I have to perform post operational education on patients
- don’t use jargon, or medical terminology when explaining things to patients
- have a well thought out ‘post-operation’ spiel to tell patients who have undergone abdominal surgery, so they know the risks associated with surgery and the implications it has on the chest.
- Tell the patients the benefits of doing an exercise/treatment before actually getting them to perform it, as this well increase their motivation to perform a treatment and they will know the purpose of the treatment.
- Ask the patient if they have understood what your explaining to them
- Ask the patient if they have anymore questions associated with your treatment.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
WEEK 3
Situation
In the third week of my placement I was asked by my supervisor to assess and treat a 75 year old man, who had been taken in to Fremantle emergency department via ambulance.
The man had come in with respiratory arrest; he had had increased shortness of breath over the last two weeks and had gone to see a general practitioner three days ago. The man had a past medical history of ‘asthma’ (which was likely to be undiagnosed COPD) , high cholesterol, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease and a laperotomy in 2007 for a bowel obstruction. He was also very obese. This man also had a 40 year smoking history.
The gentleman lived alone and had no services helping him out, he used to walk approximately 500m in a day, without the help of any aids.
This man was admitted to Fremantle hospital on the 06/04/10 and I was asked to assess and treat him on the 07/04/10.
Task
I was asked to assess and treat this patient, trying to help with his respiratory problems, so he could return home to his previous level of function.
Action
I asked this patient a few questions regarding his shortness of breath, his flem production, dizziness and nausea, his pain levels and his home environment. I then performed an objective assessment, listening to his lungs with a stethoscope, listening to his cough, and feeling his chest expansion.
I then treated this patient. I gave his positions to ease his shortness of breath. I gave him techniques to clear flem/sputum from his lungs and I educated him about staying upright etc. I also gave him exercises to do hourly.
Result
The treatment session went well, the patient improved his shortness of breath and he also cleared out a fair bit of sputum/flem, the objective assessment also went well. However the subjective assessment didn’t go too well, it took along time and I had to keep rewording my questions so the patient understood.
Evaluation
I thought the session had both strengths and weaknesses in it. I thought my strengths were: 1) the treatment session addressed the patient’s main problems 2) I built a rapport very easily with the patient 3) I kept the session to a 30 minute time frame.
I thought I had some weaknesses in my session as well, I think my subjective assessment went poorly. I think I got nervous while asking the patient questions. I forgot to ask some pertinent questions and didn’t ask enough detail in other questions. In addition I wasn’t clear with some of my questions and I found I had to clarify a couple of times what I was asking the patient.
Strategies
I came up with a number of strategies to help improve my subjective assessment questioning. They were:
1) slow done, and take time asking questions
2) Use a notebook with questions written on it to help jog my memory so I don’t forget some pertinent questions when doing a subjective assessment.
3) Keep a neutral tone when talking to patients ( make sure it doesn’t sound condescending etc.)
4) Speak in a loud voice to make sure I am heard clearly and accurately. 5) Plan out what I want to ask a patient before entering the room so I know what questions are relevant to this patient before I even begin the subjective assessment
In the third week of my placement I was asked by my supervisor to assess and treat a 75 year old man, who had been taken in to Fremantle emergency department via ambulance.
The man had come in with respiratory arrest; he had had increased shortness of breath over the last two weeks and had gone to see a general practitioner three days ago. The man had a past medical history of ‘asthma’ (which was likely to be undiagnosed COPD) , high cholesterol, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease and a laperotomy in 2007 for a bowel obstruction. He was also very obese. This man also had a 40 year smoking history.
The gentleman lived alone and had no services helping him out, he used to walk approximately 500m in a day, without the help of any aids.
This man was admitted to Fremantle hospital on the 06/04/10 and I was asked to assess and treat him on the 07/04/10.
Task
I was asked to assess and treat this patient, trying to help with his respiratory problems, so he could return home to his previous level of function.
Action
I asked this patient a few questions regarding his shortness of breath, his flem production, dizziness and nausea, his pain levels and his home environment. I then performed an objective assessment, listening to his lungs with a stethoscope, listening to his cough, and feeling his chest expansion.
I then treated this patient. I gave his positions to ease his shortness of breath. I gave him techniques to clear flem/sputum from his lungs and I educated him about staying upright etc. I also gave him exercises to do hourly.
Result
The treatment session went well, the patient improved his shortness of breath and he also cleared out a fair bit of sputum/flem, the objective assessment also went well. However the subjective assessment didn’t go too well, it took along time and I had to keep rewording my questions so the patient understood.
Evaluation
I thought the session had both strengths and weaknesses in it. I thought my strengths were: 1) the treatment session addressed the patient’s main problems 2) I built a rapport very easily with the patient 3) I kept the session to a 30 minute time frame.
I thought I had some weaknesses in my session as well, I think my subjective assessment went poorly. I think I got nervous while asking the patient questions. I forgot to ask some pertinent questions and didn’t ask enough detail in other questions. In addition I wasn’t clear with some of my questions and I found I had to clarify a couple of times what I was asking the patient.
Strategies
I came up with a number of strategies to help improve my subjective assessment questioning. They were:
1) slow done, and take time asking questions
2) Use a notebook with questions written on it to help jog my memory so I don’t forget some pertinent questions when doing a subjective assessment.
3) Keep a neutral tone when talking to patients ( make sure it doesn’t sound condescending etc.)
4) Speak in a loud voice to make sure I am heard clearly and accurately. 5) Plan out what I want to ask a patient before entering the room so I know what questions are relevant to this patient before I even begin the subjective assessment
Sunday, March 28, 2010
WEEK 1- FIRST ENTRY
Situation
On the third day of my placement ( 24/03/2010) my supervisor asked me to treat a 54 year old lady. This woman was 1 day post-operation from a laprascopy (a operation involving a large incision to the abdomen) that was performed to remove half of her colon (hemicolectomy) . Her past medical history included hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and type 2 diabetes melinitus, she was also very obese.
This lady had only recently immigrated to Australia 2 years ago and she was of Polish decent. She could not speak English very well and her understanding of the language was very limited as well. This lady lived alone but was regularly visited by both her sons.
Task
My task was to treat this lady. This woman did not actually have any current problems with her chest, but I was treating her as more of a preventative measure to stop her contracting any post-operative complications such as chest infections or circulatory problems. I needed to asses her lungs and then treat any problems I saw.
Action
Firstly I assessed this lady. I auscultated her lungs and heard some crackling in both the lungs bi-basally. This could have indicated microatelactisis, which is very common after a long anaesthetic. I felt her chest expansion, which was good both sides and listened to her cough, which was weak, dry, non-productive and ineffective. I needed to improve her cough and possibly reverse her microatelactisis.
As a treatment I got her to take some deep breaths with an inspiratory hold at the end of them. I also showed her how to perform a supported cough (with a rolled up towel pressed against her incision site) to protect her incision site on her abdomen. As she was not feeling well enough to get out of bed I positioned her in high sitting in the bed and them attempted to educate her about the procedure, how important it was for her to keep taking deep breaths and that if she needed to cough up any mucous or flem she must attempt to cough while supporting her incision site.
Result
This woman then had post operative exercises that would help in preventing any lung or circularity problems that are sometimes associated with people who have operations that involve incisions on their abdomen and consequently long anasthetics.
Evaluation
I don’t think the treatment session was that successful. I did have some strengths with the treatment, they were:
1) I targeted the negative effects of anaesthetic on this woman’s lungs and I did prescribe her the appropriate exercises for preventing post operative complications to her lungs and circulation.
But I think I had a few more weaknesses, they were:
1) The fact that there was a lot of miscommunication occurring during the assessment and treatment session. I found it difficult to inform this lady that I was trying to prevent her from getting a chest infection. At one stage she thought she already had a chest infection and was getting quiet upset about it all.
2) I think I should have got this lady sitting on the edge of the bed, which would use more of her own muscle strength instead of letting her just sit up in bed. Sitting her out of bed would have been more beneficial in her rehabilitation from her operation (on the muscles of her abdomen).
3) I think I should have given her more exercises to target her circulation.
Strategies
My supervisor and I worked out a couple of strategies to help with communication when I come across this type of patient again:
1) Using simple short/direct words for a patient with a language barrier as well as trying to avoid complicated or long sentences. In this particular case instead of going through the whole spiel about post operative complications I should have told her the main points in a simplified way.
2) Drawing or writing down the exercises I give her so as to make sure she understands what I want her to do.
3) Using physical demonstrations to aid in teaching exercises
4) Getting the patient to repeat what you have asked them to do. I should say phrases like “So what are you going to do every hour?”. Their answer to this question would assure me of their understanding of the exercises that I have prescribed them to do.
5) Lastly get an interpreter to help out with communication.
On the third day of my placement ( 24/03/2010) my supervisor asked me to treat a 54 year old lady. This woman was 1 day post-operation from a laprascopy (a operation involving a large incision to the abdomen) that was performed to remove half of her colon (hemicolectomy) . Her past medical history included hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and type 2 diabetes melinitus, she was also very obese.
This lady had only recently immigrated to Australia 2 years ago and she was of Polish decent. She could not speak English very well and her understanding of the language was very limited as well. This lady lived alone but was regularly visited by both her sons.
Task
My task was to treat this lady. This woman did not actually have any current problems with her chest, but I was treating her as more of a preventative measure to stop her contracting any post-operative complications such as chest infections or circulatory problems. I needed to asses her lungs and then treat any problems I saw.
Action
Firstly I assessed this lady. I auscultated her lungs and heard some crackling in both the lungs bi-basally. This could have indicated microatelactisis, which is very common after a long anaesthetic. I felt her chest expansion, which was good both sides and listened to her cough, which was weak, dry, non-productive and ineffective. I needed to improve her cough and possibly reverse her microatelactisis.
As a treatment I got her to take some deep breaths with an inspiratory hold at the end of them. I also showed her how to perform a supported cough (with a rolled up towel pressed against her incision site) to protect her incision site on her abdomen. As she was not feeling well enough to get out of bed I positioned her in high sitting in the bed and them attempted to educate her about the procedure, how important it was for her to keep taking deep breaths and that if she needed to cough up any mucous or flem she must attempt to cough while supporting her incision site.
Result
This woman then had post operative exercises that would help in preventing any lung or circularity problems that are sometimes associated with people who have operations that involve incisions on their abdomen and consequently long anasthetics.
Evaluation
I don’t think the treatment session was that successful. I did have some strengths with the treatment, they were:
1) I targeted the negative effects of anaesthetic on this woman’s lungs and I did prescribe her the appropriate exercises for preventing post operative complications to her lungs and circulation.
But I think I had a few more weaknesses, they were:
1) The fact that there was a lot of miscommunication occurring during the assessment and treatment session. I found it difficult to inform this lady that I was trying to prevent her from getting a chest infection. At one stage she thought she already had a chest infection and was getting quiet upset about it all.
2) I think I should have got this lady sitting on the edge of the bed, which would use more of her own muscle strength instead of letting her just sit up in bed. Sitting her out of bed would have been more beneficial in her rehabilitation from her operation (on the muscles of her abdomen).
3) I think I should have given her more exercises to target her circulation.
Strategies
My supervisor and I worked out a couple of strategies to help with communication when I come across this type of patient again:
1) Using simple short/direct words for a patient with a language barrier as well as trying to avoid complicated or long sentences. In this particular case instead of going through the whole spiel about post operative complications I should have told her the main points in a simplified way.
2) Drawing or writing down the exercises I give her so as to make sure she understands what I want her to do.
3) Using physical demonstrations to aid in teaching exercises
4) Getting the patient to repeat what you have asked them to do. I should say phrases like “So what are you going to do every hour?”. Their answer to this question would assure me of their understanding of the exercises that I have prescribed them to do.
5) Lastly get an interpreter to help out with communication.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
INITIAL ENTRY-FREMANTLE HOSPITAL
Initial Entry
For my second placement this year, I have been assigned to go to Fremantle Hospital. This is my cardio-respiratory rotation, and I am excited about going on this placement because cardio-respiratory was one of my favourite units during my physiotherapy course. I’m hoping that the practical side of cardio-respiratory will be as interesting as the theoretical side of it.
I will be at Fremantle hospital every day from 8:00am to 4:30pm.
I have been told by other students that I will have my own caseload. I’m happy about having this responsibility as I think it will give me more opportunities where I can learn and therefore gain more confidence in my own abilities and skills.
I have also heard from other students who have been on this placement that you are placed on a number of different wards, including general medical, surgical and ICU wards. I hope I get to experience the general medical and/or the ICU ward as I think I will be able to use a few more of my skills on these wards. I think the surgical ward could be a bit repetitive, as I think you may be using the same methods to treat patients.
I’m a bit concerned about how I will get to Fremantle hospital. The car parking is very sparse and expensive in Fremantle so I think I will have to take 2 different train lines and then walk from the station to the hospital. It may take over 1 ½ hours just to get to the hospital. I will have to be going to bed very early each night!
I hope to see a range of different conditions as well while I’m on this placement. I’m hoping that I will get to see patients who have COPD right through to patients that have pneumonia, asthma, and bronchitis.
Another expectation I have is that I hope I will be able to help run a few pulmonary rehabilitation classes. I feel as though I need to have more experience working with groups of people and I think working out exercises for a pulmonary rehabilitation class would stretch my knowledge in the cardio-respiratory sector of physiotherapy.
For my second placement this year, I have been assigned to go to Fremantle Hospital. This is my cardio-respiratory rotation, and I am excited about going on this placement because cardio-respiratory was one of my favourite units during my physiotherapy course. I’m hoping that the practical side of cardio-respiratory will be as interesting as the theoretical side of it.
I will be at Fremantle hospital every day from 8:00am to 4:30pm.
I have been told by other students that I will have my own caseload. I’m happy about having this responsibility as I think it will give me more opportunities where I can learn and therefore gain more confidence in my own abilities and skills.
I have also heard from other students who have been on this placement that you are placed on a number of different wards, including general medical, surgical and ICU wards. I hope I get to experience the general medical and/or the ICU ward as I think I will be able to use a few more of my skills on these wards. I think the surgical ward could be a bit repetitive, as I think you may be using the same methods to treat patients.
I’m a bit concerned about how I will get to Fremantle hospital. The car parking is very sparse and expensive in Fremantle so I think I will have to take 2 different train lines and then walk from the station to the hospital. It may take over 1 ½ hours just to get to the hospital. I will have to be going to bed very early each night!
I hope to see a range of different conditions as well while I’m on this placement. I’m hoping that I will get to see patients who have COPD right through to patients that have pneumonia, asthma, and bronchitis.
Another expectation I have is that I hope I will be able to help run a few pulmonary rehabilitation classes. I feel as though I need to have more experience working with groups of people and I think working out exercises for a pulmonary rehabilitation class would stretch my knowledge in the cardio-respiratory sector of physiotherapy.
INITIAL ENTRY-FREMANTLE HOSPITAL
Initial Entry
For my second placement this year, I have been assigned to go to Fremantle Hospital. This is my cardio-respiratory rotation, and I am excited about going on this placement because cardio-respiratory was one of my favourite units during my physiotherapy course. I’m hoping that the practical side of cardio-respiratory will be as interesting as the theoretical side of it.
I will be at Fremantle hospital every day from 8:00am to 4:30pm.
I have been told by other students that I will have my own caseload. I’m happy about having this responsibility as I think it will give me more opportunities where I can learn and therefore gain more confidence in my own abilities and skills.
I have also heard from other students who have been on this placement that you are placed on a number of different wards, including general medical, surgical and ICU wards. I hope I get to experience the general medical and/or the ICU ward as I think I will be able to use a few more of my skills on these wards. I think the surgical ward could be a bit repetitive, as I think you may be using the same methods to treat patients.
I’m a bit concerned about how I will get to Fremantle hospital. The car parking is very sparse and expensive in Fremantle so I think I will have to take 2 different train lines and then walk from the station to the hospital. It may take over 1 ½ hours just to get to the hospital. I will have to be going to bed very early each night!
I hope to see a range of different conditions as well while I’m on this placement. I’m hoping that I will get to see patients who have COPD right through to patients that have pneumonia, asthma, and bronchitis.
Another expectation I have is that I hope I will be able to help run a few pulmonary rehabilitation classes. I feel as though I need to have more experience working with groups of people and I think working out exercises for a pulmonary rehabilitation class would stretch my knowledge in the cardio-respiratory sector of physiotherapy.
For my second placement this year, I have been assigned to go to Fremantle Hospital. This is my cardio-respiratory rotation, and I am excited about going on this placement because cardio-respiratory was one of my favourite units during my physiotherapy course. I’m hoping that the practical side of cardio-respiratory will be as interesting as the theoretical side of it.
I will be at Fremantle hospital every day from 8:00am to 4:30pm.
I have been told by other students that I will have my own caseload. I’m happy about having this responsibility as I think it will give me more opportunities where I can learn and therefore gain more confidence in my own abilities and skills.
I have also heard from other students who have been on this placement that you are placed on a number of different wards, including general medical, surgical and ICU wards. I hope I get to experience the general medical and/or the ICU ward as I think I will be able to use a few more of my skills on these wards. I think the surgical ward could be a bit repetitive, as I think you may be using the same methods to treat patients.
I’m a bit concerned about how I will get to Fremantle hospital. The car parking is very sparse and expensive in Fremantle so I think I will have to take 2 different train lines and then walk from the station to the hospital. It may take over 1 ½ hours just to get to the hospital. I will have to be going to bed very early each night!
I hope to see a range of different conditions as well while I’m on this placement. I’m hoping that I will get to see patients who have COPD right through to patients that have pneumonia, asthma, and bronchitis.
Another expectation I have is that I hope I will be able to help run a few pulmonary rehabilitation classes. I feel as though I need to have more experience working with groups of people and I think working out exercises for a pulmonary rehabilitation class would stretch my knowledge in the cardio-respiratory sector of physiotherapy.
Monday, March 15, 2010
FINAL ENTRY
I really enjoyed my placement at Princess Margaret Hospital. I did have 2 half days a week but they varied from day to day. I was given a comprehensive introduction to the hospital and another student and I were introduced and given a tour on our first day.
Just as I suspected; I defiantly felt the emotional pull of being involved with children who were sick. Many times I came home feeling down, but I think at some point during the placement I realised that I could do nothing about their situation, however I could help them with the problems they had at that particular time, I could help them along their journey to recovery.
I saw a wide range of patients, many had seizure disorders, some had spinal cord injuries, a few had brain injuries and lots had muscular disorders.
Surprisingly enough I only saw one child with cerebral palsy (and that was only because the child was having a baclofen pump inserted), the reason for this being that at PMH, the physiotherapy department only sees children who are in their acute stage of their disease and cerebral palsy is a chronic ongoing condition that is usually handled in community based care.
I did see a very wide age range in the children that I treated. I treated children with neurodevelopmental delay that were only 4 months old, right through to a child with an acute brain injury that was 17 years old. I felt that I gained a lot of experience with working with children of different age groups, I now feel as though I can relate well to children of all ages.
I ended up seeing 3 children with my supervisor every day. These kids were my caseload. My supervisor let me assess and treat them completely while she sat back and observed. I found it difficult at times to communicate with the childs parent because they tended to look to my supervisor for confirmation that what I was saying was correct. I felt I often didn’t have the complete trust of the child’s parent, I am hoping they will begin to trust me once I am a practicing physiotherapist on my own. I have learnt that I must begin to have more confidence in my own knowledge and treatment so that other people will not doubt me.
Just as I suspected; I defiantly felt the emotional pull of being involved with children who were sick. Many times I came home feeling down, but I think at some point during the placement I realised that I could do nothing about their situation, however I could help them with the problems they had at that particular time, I could help them along their journey to recovery.
I saw a wide range of patients, many had seizure disorders, some had spinal cord injuries, a few had brain injuries and lots had muscular disorders.
Surprisingly enough I only saw one child with cerebral palsy (and that was only because the child was having a baclofen pump inserted), the reason for this being that at PMH, the physiotherapy department only sees children who are in their acute stage of their disease and cerebral palsy is a chronic ongoing condition that is usually handled in community based care.
I did see a very wide age range in the children that I treated. I treated children with neurodevelopmental delay that were only 4 months old, right through to a child with an acute brain injury that was 17 years old. I felt that I gained a lot of experience with working with children of different age groups, I now feel as though I can relate well to children of all ages.
I ended up seeing 3 children with my supervisor every day. These kids were my caseload. My supervisor let me assess and treat them completely while she sat back and observed. I found it difficult at times to communicate with the childs parent because they tended to look to my supervisor for confirmation that what I was saying was correct. I felt I often didn’t have the complete trust of the child’s parent, I am hoping they will begin to trust me once I am a practicing physiotherapist on my own. I have learnt that I must begin to have more confidence in my own knowledge and treatment so that other people will not doubt me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)