Looking back on all my placements I have seen patients with all different injuries and illnesses both young and old. Working in the hospitals has made me realise how fortunate I am. The paediatric placement was eye opening. It took quite a while to get used to treating such young children with such serious illnesses. I found this practical quite emotionally draining, particularly as I was treating children with brain injuries. Intensive care was similar in that all the patients were very ill and few were able to communicate with you.
During my final practical I saw most of the patients twice a week and was able to develop a lot of rapport with my patients. Many of the patients talked about how their life had changed since there stroke or neurological diagnosis. They talked about what they could do before hand and what they can't do now. The majority of them also mentioned how this stroke had changed their outlook on life. Even though they had an arm that hadn't fully recovered, perceptual deficits or motor changes they explained how they were living everyday and weren't taking things for granted. It seems a shame that people may only realise this when they are diagnosed with an illness or have a traumatic event, however I think as physiotherapists we are seeing what can happen to children, teenagers (I saw a patient who had suffered a stroke at 18) and adults and we must learn from this. Personally this has changed my outlook on life but professionally seeing how physiotherapy can improve their quality of life is rewarding.
So all the best to everyone. Live every day and congratulations on becoming physiotherapists!
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2 comments:
On my ICU placement I experienced the same thing. You can't help but feel for the patients because of what they've been through. I had a 26 year old patient who was just running after the bus to work and ended up hitting his head and getting a serious cerebral hemorrhage. So it just made me more motivated to help them with what I can do as a physio student.
It really does reinforce that you should make the most of everyday. At my recent placement it was made clear of the physocologist available to staff to ensure that if we were affected by the loss of a patient adequate support was there for us. With the patients you mentioned it makes you see the important role of a physio
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