Four days left to go of my psychosocial OT Level II fieldwork…then DONE, baby

Gonna be quick. Lots to do in next four days, project wise…then lots to do after that for other things, ie finding a cool job. LOL.

Still working on professional development evaluations, OPPM grid, nursing cheat sheet, therapeutic exercises, functional maintenance, observation of ACL levels, final questions, and a few other random things due by end of this week.

My back is really hurting this afternoon…it could be for several interesting reasons…from standing up in church for several hours on Sunday (an Antioch orthodox church, very interesting experience), but possibly from dealing with an angry patient today…I was running on adrenaline and didn't use proper lifting technique I bet when assisting staff with stuff related to him.

Today was the closest I've seen to being in person live at the start of a possible combative patient code (where its announced overhead throughout the hospital so we can get more people for backup/help). The patient was already being supervised quite closely but he bam, got angry. I was in a patient's room, prepping her for a shower, when I heard lots of commotion in the hall, yells and thuds and all that. I told her I'd be right back, closed her door, and flew out to the hall to see how I could help. I helped with moving some of the things out of the way and re-righting a wheelchair, but it was heavier than normal ones and I think I bent way badly and didn't start feeling it until later when the adrenaline wore off.

They got things semi under control so I went back into room to finish helping my lady. Then we hear more commotion, I leave her again. Then come back, we start to leave and then the commotion starts up right outside her door, so we sat on a bed and waited for it to finish up. No way was I taking a lady with a walker into the midst of that. It actually messed up my productivity some since we were kinda trapped!

You know, a person's protective instinct should be taking care of self, but I think it's innate to help the vulnerable first, even when its a stranger. Like, I know its my job to help my patients before myself, in case of a problem, yet technically, if things got bad, I could be like screw this! I'm getting out of here! and bolt, to protect myself. Yet today, even though I'm a big ol' scaredy-cat, when this guy was acting up, had he come into her room, I would have done anything and everything in my power, to keep him away from my patient. That has nothing to do with knowing its my job – just a strong instinct to protect the vulnerable. I guess everyone must have that, maybe its evolutionary…lol.

I had an extra good time with the nurses/techs today…there was random (nonballroom) dancing involved, in the nurses station, lol. Just quickly, I swear patients weren't being ignored. 🙂

Ummmmmmm………nothing else too special. I'm really enjoying my rotation these days…not to say there aren't moments of dread or stress, but in general, I feel empowered to help make a difference in their lives during their stay, and that's a good feeling. Blah blah blah, good night…better go work on my projects.

Mar 24, 2009 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1