AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

This afternoon SUCKED. SUCKED. SUCKED.

This morning I got to see the CAM done – did a group on discharge planning/leisure activities (9 in first group!!). Did a few ADM placemats. Tried to do an eval with a really nasty (ie mean) lady who refused…

Went back after lunch to do an eval etc.. AND IT WAS CHAOS AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh
AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The worst part of the day I can't share …let's just say an incident report was filed and it was partially my fault. My OT was really understanding though….and I learned an important lesson.

So….the census is almost double as high as normal….and this afternoon we were short a tech for whatever reason, and it was just overly busy…I coulda been like “No I can't help you…or you…or you…or you…” because none of it was billable, but it was a conscience thing. In good conscience I couldn't turn my back on these people….like the restless fall-prone guy who was getting out of bed by himself…but just needed his jacket off because he was hot…and then another lady was so restless and jumpy-out-of-her-skin because she was desperate for a sense of control and wanted her clothes…which were lost…blah blah blah…we finally found them in her OLD room…but I spent easily 30ish minutes with her…she was NOT doing well and I knew she really needed someone to give her some attention and at least a modicum of sense of control and that finding her clothes wasn't high priority, obviously, to busy nurses/techs. But I know her well enough as my patient to know she really needed this. This poor lady needs a lot more than meds to keep her from coming back – she needs a lot more coping skills/strategies. While I could have turned into a treatment, I was stressed and busy and trying to do a thousand things, so it wasn't a treatment, lol. Then I was helping a mean lady's diaper get changed, stuff like that. Then a wheelchair seat belt alarm went off and I went to the guy who had taken it off, he was cursing and tried to hit me when I went to try and re-do it so the alarm would go off. I turned it off a second to spare us all the high-pitched screech. I tried again slowly but he was still mean and angry and swiping/cursing. I had to get the insanely busy man-tech to help me. Then there is the lady spitting out her meds onto the floor next to me, the lady stopping me to ask this, the man wanting this, blah blah blah. It sounds like it wasn't a big deal, but it was REALLY stressful to see so many of my patients having issues…these people have so little control, so when the techs/nurses are too busy to listen to them or help them with low priority things (high priority being injuries, medicines, admissions, discharges, etc), that the people get upset…..and that incident I can't discuss in detail (just for self/hospital protection) REALLY stressed me out…I was sure I'd be in soooo much trouble…luckily I think it's all going to be okay…did I mention AUGH?

We have several max assist stroke patients in there now – which I'm not really able to handle by myself – I guess really they are mod/max assist x 2 – and they would ideally get some therapy for their affected extremity along with everything else – and many of them would benefit from physical therapy – but there just isn't any to offer….ugh. It's frustrating to know some of these patients aren't getting all their needs met….and time is taken up with stupid stuff like finding or ordering more gowns, finding a diaper, waiting for more towels to be brought up, trying to find a pillow (never did find an extra)… to prop against the back of a stroke patient, etc…

I finally left the area ….after having been there an extra hour+ after the final billable piece…basically doing tech duties……to me, a person with major depressive disorder and no coping skills, who is restless and getting agitated and feeling no control, needs some immediate soothing and help, even if its a low priority thing….even if its not billable or productive…but just because it is in the best interest of the patient. Oh and while trying to leave there is the cursing and gesturing man blocking the locked door, bleeding, other elopement-happy patients near the door, etc…even trying to leave was kind of an ordeal.

I went down and called a friend quickly and cried…from all the pent-up stress and from the incident….I'm still kinda shaken up but once I go in tomorrow and see everything's okay, I guess I'll be okay again….learned a sobering lesson. Sorry to be so dire and mysterious, it's not like I massacred fifty patients or anything, just safer not to go into detail.

Ummmmmmmm………..anyway……luckily the friends I am staying with are nice…my friend that I cried to went and got yummy food like guacamole and yummy ice cream, and a few other little gifts, to make me feel better!!!

Gotta steel myself and get through tomorrow…gotta figure out groups….next week is Week 6…midterm evaluation……ummmmm

Feb 06, 2009 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1