S: at ASC one of the main interventions is exercise. Interventions for exercise have very poor evidence behind them. The student is expected to make a presentation in the 4th week from a topic of their choice.
T: my task was to choose a topic and present on that topic. I would have to choose something with evidence based practice behind it to meet that area of the marking schema for my overall APP grade. It would also have to be relevant and interesting or the staff.
A: I decided I would choose the topic of exercise as that is the intervention carried out the most. I then searched on PEDro and PUBMED for relevant articles concerning the topic I had chosen. I found 4 articles that were of relevance to my topic.
R: all 4 articles were relevant and useful. They addressed the effects of exercise in relation with several different types of mental illnesses including dementia and depression. I presented on the evidence in the articles and also critically analysed the articles. The presentation went for 30mins
E: I thought overall the presentation went quite well. However on another note I found that still the evidence for exercise was inconclusive. Therefore I thought it was a bit disappointing not being able to present on something with hard evidence. The feedback from the presentation was positive, mainly because is important to have up to date evidence for the current interventions used.
S: some hints for improvement in the future include-
- choose a topic that the staff aren’t very familiar with so that it is useful for everyone
- make sure that it is relevant to the placement you are on eg; mental health
- think of some questions that might be asked so that you are prepared to answer them on the day
Monday, April 26, 2010
final thoughts
My final thoughts for this placement were very positive. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at ASC. The physio staff there were very helpful and knowledgeable. There is ample opportunity to take responsibility for your own learning. I found the placement to be a very generic type of physio with the added spectrum of mental health. Daily tasks included musculoskeletal assessments and treatments to neurological assessment and treatment. The added spectrum of mental health added another challenge and variety to the whole placement. I believe this mental health experience has given me a very valuable exposure that not everyone will have the opportunity to experience.
My supervisors were very helpful throughout. They constantly challenged me and provided tasks to develop my learning. They were very knowledgeable so having them as a resource was extremely useful. I learnt many things whilst there, including physiotherapy techniques to building rapport with metal health patients with differing challenges to there behaviour. I believe this placement gave me a very wide scope of preparation for my last 2 placements. I think I had time to focus on areas that I needed to improve on in preparation for musculo and neuro placements. Overall I think that ASC is a very good opportunity and the physios there are committed and good role models/examples for the physiotherapy profession
My supervisors were very helpful throughout. They constantly challenged me and provided tasks to develop my learning. They were very knowledgeable so having them as a resource was extremely useful. I learnt many things whilst there, including physiotherapy techniques to building rapport with metal health patients with differing challenges to there behaviour. I believe this placement gave me a very wide scope of preparation for my last 2 placements. I think I had time to focus on areas that I needed to improve on in preparation for musculo and neuro placements. Overall I think that ASC is a very good opportunity and the physios there are committed and good role models/examples for the physiotherapy profession
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Communication
S: The Alma street mental health clinic has 2 full time, 1 part time physiotherapy staff and 1 physiotherapy assistant. There are 4 wards with over 60 beds all together. This means that appropriate communication between the physiotherapy staff is very important. Every morning the staff meet for a handover on all the pts. This is good because all the pts use the same gym regardless of the ward they are on. So when a pt is in the gym and the physio looking after that pt is not there, the other physio staff know about the pt. There are several other instances where good communication is important and it adds to the efficiency and professionalism of the physio dept.
T: being a new face in the physio dept. it is important to work hard to learn the system that they use and be easily adaptable to fit in. the staff are working together every day and to have an added member can change the dynamics a bit. One of the big emphasizes is on communication, therefore my task was to show outstanding communication skills to maintain the standard of the physio dept. in this particular instance, I was in the gym by myself when a pt entered for some exercise. I knew who this pt was and had been given a handover on this pt at the start of the morning. This pt was now under my care so I had to make sure there were no particular measures to take into account.
A: with this being the case, I paged the physio who was looking after this pt. I knew this pt had recently been transferred from a locked ward. The physio informed me that this pt required an escort to leave the ward. I then called the nurse on that ward and informed them that the pt was in the gym. The nurse said that they hadn’t realized the pt had left and that this pt was at risk of absconding. She asked me to please escort the pt back onto the ward when they were finished. A simple act of good communication between the multi-disciplinary team had ensured safe and efficient practice.
R: the result in this case was a positive one. The pt was returned safely to the ward without any complications. In many instances pts leave the gym or the ward and become AWOL. This creates problems for the whole team. In an instance of doubt it is quite easy to communicate to prevent such measures or dramas from playing out. Both the nursing staff and physio looking after that pt thanked me for communicating effectively. This creates a good professional relationship with the whole team because it proves that you have a wide scope and are not just concerned with your role.
E: I believe in this instance I was an effective communicator. This was a fairly simple act so it doesn’t require much evaluation. However the things I believe I did that made it effective were –
• I was composed and didn’t elevate the situation by over reacting.
• I was friendly and had previously made myself known to the staff on the wards so they knew who I was.
• I made sure the gym was not left unattended when I was escorting the pt back to the ward.
• I allowed the pt to exercise and the returned them to the ward and made sure the nursing staff knew the pt was back.
S: Some tips to ensure that these situations are easily resolved include –
• Making sure you know the phone numbers for the wards.
• Knowing the pts by name and by face.
• Having a good back-round knowledge of the pts.
• Being pro-active and acting upon any element of doubt just to be on the safe side.
• De-elevating any drama by being very casual and explaining to the pt that you will walk with them back to the ward and explain that they must let someone know when leaving the ward.
T: being a new face in the physio dept. it is important to work hard to learn the system that they use and be easily adaptable to fit in. the staff are working together every day and to have an added member can change the dynamics a bit. One of the big emphasizes is on communication, therefore my task was to show outstanding communication skills to maintain the standard of the physio dept. in this particular instance, I was in the gym by myself when a pt entered for some exercise. I knew who this pt was and had been given a handover on this pt at the start of the morning. This pt was now under my care so I had to make sure there were no particular measures to take into account.
A: with this being the case, I paged the physio who was looking after this pt. I knew this pt had recently been transferred from a locked ward. The physio informed me that this pt required an escort to leave the ward. I then called the nurse on that ward and informed them that the pt was in the gym. The nurse said that they hadn’t realized the pt had left and that this pt was at risk of absconding. She asked me to please escort the pt back onto the ward when they were finished. A simple act of good communication between the multi-disciplinary team had ensured safe and efficient practice.
R: the result in this case was a positive one. The pt was returned safely to the ward without any complications. In many instances pts leave the gym or the ward and become AWOL. This creates problems for the whole team. In an instance of doubt it is quite easy to communicate to prevent such measures or dramas from playing out. Both the nursing staff and physio looking after that pt thanked me for communicating effectively. This creates a good professional relationship with the whole team because it proves that you have a wide scope and are not just concerned with your role.
E: I believe in this instance I was an effective communicator. This was a fairly simple act so it doesn’t require much evaluation. However the things I believe I did that made it effective were –
• I was composed and didn’t elevate the situation by over reacting.
• I was friendly and had previously made myself known to the staff on the wards so they knew who I was.
• I made sure the gym was not left unattended when I was escorting the pt back to the ward.
• I allowed the pt to exercise and the returned them to the ward and made sure the nursing staff knew the pt was back.
S: Some tips to ensure that these situations are easily resolved include –
• Making sure you know the phone numbers for the wards.
• Knowing the pts by name and by face.
• Having a good back-round knowledge of the pts.
• Being pro-active and acting upon any element of doubt just to be on the safe side.
• De-elevating any drama by being very casual and explaining to the pt that you will walk with them back to the ward and explain that they must let someone know when leaving the ward.
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