Yay a psychiatrist thinks I'm good

So today my OT followed me some since she only had one patient. I have been telling her about the chaos that a few of my patients have been causing, so she was interested to see. Unfortunately, although fortunately, medicines had been adjusted so things were much calmer. I still ended up with my butt patted again though.

So when my OT was sitting in on my group for first time in a long time, one of the psychiatrists walked by, came to the door and was quietly trying to get my OT's attention. She left the room with him and my heart sank. She hasn't been around much on the unit in a long time so I was like uh-oh…what could he want from her.

It TURNS OUT…the psychiatrist had pulled her out to tell her what a great student I was and how I was one of the best students he has worked with! Maybe it just means he has had crappy students, ha ha.

But it meant a lot to me that he pulled out my instructor to praise me! Especially since in a lot of ways I'm not so great, lol.

Today I was trying to deal with getting a patient to come with me for an evaluation. The patient was confused and I was patiently trying to get them to come on their own accord. A tech nearby butted in and was like firmly “We're going so this lady can ask you questions” and wheeled them down the hall. That's just not my style – my way takes a little longer, but usually has the same answer, with the patient feeling more in control….you could argue that a confused patient won't know the difference, but *I* know the difference and I don't like to be a bully. I think I'm way too sensitive though.

The other day I helped quickly with a shower on a new patient. Things were chaotic and I hadn't been able to do the eval (you can't charge stuff for a patient until after the eval) so I ended up just assisting like a tech instead of it being a billable thing. I think the nurse was a little irritated with me because I was slow about helping the patient, but that's what OT is about – sitting on your hands and letting the patient do as much as possible. I typically tell the patient, I'm here, “do what you can and let me know if you need help”…or I'll step in if it's obvious the patient needs help. But if the patient can do it and is just slow, I don't hurry the process much since then I can't accurately gauge their ability. The nurses/techs on the other hand, even if the patient can do a lot of it themselves, are typically used to whisking patients in and out as quickly as possible by having the tech/nurse do everything without waiting. I realize that with their job descriptions, a quick bathing experience is important, so we have different perspectives in mind. Just means that I have learned the OT ability of NOT helping if not necessary….not to be mean, just a different philosophy.

I wish I could do more exercise with the patients. A lot of them sit in wheelchairs all day although they can walk with assistance, and so they enter the unit walking at least a little, and then leave a few weeks later entirely in a wheelchair because they've gotten weak. I asked my OT about it and since we are treating for cognitive reasons, we can't really charge for exercise. Boo.

Um….I guess that is it. I still have a lot of decisions and stuff to deal with in the next few weeks…and I need to work on my professional development evaluations…and my study review book for taking the boards, is coming soon.

I've been cleaning out my email box…blogging blizzard really coming soon I promise.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a somewhat early day…ie 330ish…though realistically 415-430. Planning to go to a dance party tomorrow night.

Mar 06, 2009 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none