My occupational therapy goals for the night and babies watching TV

Well, I just got back from Costco/Schnucks and my back is aching and my mind is distracted so I figured I’d type something up really quick here and then get going on work. I’m having a hermit weekend because I’ve gotten so behind on school stuff, so I decided to hole in for the weekend, socially. I have a lot to do so I can’t keep putting it off or I’ll go insane. I’ve already completed my first set of genuine SOAP notes, updated my OTPF cheatsheet, and written two reaction reports on 12-step meetings.

I volunteered today as always at the local pediatric hospital and I am happy to say I did not yank any tubes today. I held one of the same babies as last time for almost an hour, including holding him up on my chest so he was somewhat upright – a rather rare position for some of these babies, and a good challenge for their reflux as well as an opportunity for the babies to get to kick a little against resistance and hold their chest up. He did unfortunately soil himself somewhat on my gown but it didn’t get all the way through the gown to my clothes. Phew. Then I went in to a private room with a baby who was much older than many of the others and on contact precautions. He has a lot of issues and I was scared to prop him up so I just interacted with him a bunch with him on his back. He was watching TV when I came in – I turned it off and he was upset at first but calmed down. He got more and more tired as we played so I ended up singing to him for a long time until he fell asleep. Then I played with a little baby in a swing, again I turned the TV off when I came in because otherwise the babies are distracted by the TV and care less about the personal interaction. I did turn it back on when I left though, even though I knew if the occupational therapist knew she’d kill me! I sometimes struggle with how much “OT” I should attempt with these babies. OT can sometimes upset them when it involves doing things they’d rather not do, and I don’t feel I should be doing that as a volunteer. I’ll sometimes kind of test them by moving my finger around to see if their eyes follow it smoothly, or I’ll watch them reach for something and see if they have jerkiness or tight thumbs from hypertonicity or a weak grasp, etc. I’ll try to give the baby as much sensory stimulation as possible based on what they seem to need – some of them get clearly overwhelmed while others seem to crave it. One of the babies I held seemed to crave being hold while simultaneously being overwhelmed, so I actually wouldn’t look or talk to the baby – I just gazed away as I held him so he could get what he needed without an overload of stimulation. His heart rate would raise the more I interacted with him so I kept an eye on that.

It’s hard – the OTs push for not having TVs in there with these kids who are rarely more than around 5 months old and almost never older than a year. But the nurses feel it helps keep the kid calm and distracted and since they can’t play with the kids all the time, the TV helps out a lot. I see both sides and while I agree the TV is not ideal for such a young kid, it is probably a lifesaver when the nurses are swamped.

Okay anyway, it was a successful visit and I enjoyed it. Each time I go I get a little bit more comfortable with it.
I PROMISE I am going to do the occupational therapy student post, probably later tonight when I need a break!

Here are my occupational therapy goals for the night. (I’ve discovered that because I don’t say occupational therapy that much in my posts, it’s hard to find me in searches, so I’m going to start saying occupational therapy more often, sorry!!)

*Organize work on Joshua Case Study with Group
*Do Step 1 of Treatment Project on child with dyspraxia, more details later
*Work on the VALPAR Powerpoint
*Search on Biofeedback in preparation for a visitor on Thursday and upcoming presentation we are doing
*Read a chapter on Splinting for a splinting lab

Non-OT goal:
Do dishes (my most hated chore).
Organize in general.

Update: The night after I volunteered at the hospital, the sounds of monitors beeping were stuck in my head as I tried to fall asleep!

Sep 08, 2007 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none