last week was my last week at
Gensis Extended Care and Rehab. I saw many things that I can now apply to what we have learned in class. I wish I could see the final result of the of the patients because you just know that dispite the obstacles they are facing now, they are gonna make it. This has been a good experience. I just hope the place we go to in the spring and next summer are just as benificial for us all.
There is a woman at this facility who has a colostomy that collects both feces and urine. She has had extensive surgery due to cancer. She has a vacuum pack wound on her stomach and wound packs on her legs. She had problems with blood clots so they could not stitch or staple her shut. I have seen this lady battle nausea, dizziness, and blood loss. I have seen her not be able to go to therapy because they had no more of her special colostomy bags and they were waiting on them to be delivered. Yesterday I saw this lady take her first steps. Yes, they were assisted steps, but she stood on those legs that still had wound packs on them and took them. Everyone in the room was elated. Even though I will not be there to see it, there is no doubt in my mind that this lady will make it.
People who could barely walk are walking with the use of a walker. After seeing what these people have went through in the last few weeks, it surely gives you a new view into the human spirit to see them do something that you never would have thought they would be able to do. I had thought peds was where I wanted to go work, but this definately gives you a new view.
This week as I filled out my time sheet I realized my time at the facility is half over. Since I am at a rehab facility,sometimes Ithink I am just seeing the same thing over and over and then comes the thing out of the clear blue sky that you never thought you’d see. This week I saw them clean a wound with a motorized water gun and suction. Saline is run through the gun and suctioned out. The water is suctioned into a container so you can see if any dirt is washed out.
This week I am going to sit it on one of the staff therapy meetings and see how they make some of their decisons on the treatments of patients and whether they are ready for discharge or not. This will be interesting.
This week a man that was in what they called a tube chair has been moved to a regular wheel chair. He had a toe amputated and had had the stitches removed and was now wearing his shoes. This week getting him to stand on his feet was so much easier. It is good to see him make this progress.
We did practice documentation and it is harder than you think. It is a very good idea to take notes while you do treatment.
We had a very high functioning patient this week who made us cookies. chocolate chip. She was glad to be able to do it. The therapists were glad she was able to do it also. She is not staying long at the facility.
The 30 year old CVA patient’s progress is slow. But I also found out this is about her third CVA. These problems she has have been compounded. But she doesn’t give up. She keeps trying and working.Not being there everyday you see their progress differently than someone who sees it everyday.
This week I have seen some very interesting things. A young lady of 30 years arrived at Genesis Rehab who had a CVA. Her right side was affected. The physical therapist assistant was walking her down the hall and asked me to follow them with her wheelchair so she could sit down when she tired out. The physical therapist assisstant had to physically move her right leg so she could move down the hall, but her determination to attempt to move it was outstanding. This is and example of how the therapists work together and help each other whether it be by doing something like this or by helping each other lift a patient out of a wheel chair together so they can help them stand on their feet in the early stages of therapy. We had to do therapy in the room of one of the residents who had wound packs and couldn’t come to the therapy room. We arrived at the room as they were changing the packs. You think you have an idea of what something is, but you really don’t know what it is until you see it.
I did my interview with an amputee who was leaving the facility that weekend to go home. She had three amputations and her therapy was over. She is going home with good family and community support. I had seen her several times in the therapy room. Even though the goal is to get them home, you find that you will miss their presence.
I also experienced the death of one of the patients that week. It was something that was not expected. She was a nice lady.
Time is slipping by fast and the goals we plan to tackle are writing some documentation and my attending one of their staff meetings so I can see how things go in there when they get together and discuss different things. That will be all three therapists who sometimes all see the same person in therapy. I am looking forward to being able to sit and listen .
Thursday I went to clinicals feeling much more at ease and comfortable. You are getting to know the people and they are getting to know you.Several patients were going home this week and you could see the different attitudes they displayed approaching their therapy session. A couple of ladies were very upbeat and positive. They were looking forward to leaving and going home and at the same time were telling the therapists how they would miss them.
One lady was the exact opposite. She became very uncooperative with the therapist and would do hardly anything that he asked her to do. She was almost to the point of what I would call nasty. But he handled her with patience, tenacity, and never once did I see him loose his cool. I told him before I left that day that he had given me a very good example of how to handle a difficult patient.
Because this is a rehab facilitywith an older population, I see quite a bit of arthritic joints, dementia in different stages, and patients who are working on ADL’s to be able to return home. Even though I have only been there three weeks, I can see improvement in some and some are almost at the top of their abilities.I am looking forward to what I can see and learn next week.
I met my supervisor on Thursday and I think she is a very nice person. She graduated from the OT program several years ago and knows more or less what we have to go through. Very nice environment to work in with very friendly people. I am at Gensis Extended care and rehabilatation. People have been recommended there by their doctors because they cannot be at home by themselves just yet. I have already seen some patients more than once and it something to see the change in them from one time to the next. I am looking forward to next week.