Relaxed and ready!

Well rested and ready for placement.

I have not posted for a little while and the reason is that I have been enjoying a couple of weeks off and a well needed rest where I managed to switch myself off from uni work for a little while and be myself, do my own things and basically catch up on life. I have to say it was lovely! I also enjoyed my birthday, celebrating with my family, old friends and new friends I have made on my course.

I have just completed my first week on placement! (PP2) and as usual I have seen and learned so much over just one week. Here's what I have been doing:

My placement is based with a community stroke team however, I discussed with my educator that all my placement experience has been community so far so she has kindly liaised with her colleagues for me and has split my placement across 3 different settings; the acute stroke unit, community and residential stroke rehab. This is fantastic because I will not only get a broad range of experience. I will get to follow patients along their journey from hospital to recovery in the community or in intermediate care. Following the stroke pathway and the OT process. 

Acute Stroke Unit

If you have followed my blog or have spoken to me in person you will know that I was quite apprehensive about working in a hospital/ward setting so I felt quite nervous about being on the acute stroke unit. I spent my first day there on Thursday and I have to say... I really enjoyed it!! (I know, i'm shocked as well!) I really surprised myself actually at how comfortable I felt in that environment. I think partly down to the OT I was shadowing who was absolutely lovely and I was looked after so well and made very welcome. I have discovered that you are just applying the same principles of OT practice and what I know and have learned from community OT - just to a different setting/environment and it's all basically the same. Although in a more clinical setting, your interpersonal skills and therapeutic use of self are still as important if not more important as a lot of patients are very nervous and worried due to their stroke and also due to the unusual environment. I'd never really experienced it before but engaging in a personal care assessment with a patient made me realise just how vulnerable you are during a stay in hospital. It must be so disorientating after a life changing stroke and to have all of these strangers helping you get washed and dressed and use the toilet. It's an eye opener really! During my day on the ward I also got to complete a mood assessment and I got the opportunity to watch a CT scan which was really interesting!

Community.

It's a strange feeling really. I feel I am very familiar with the structure and process of community OT now. Which has put me in great stead for being out in the community team and in the office completing paper work. However, I am just trying to learn and get to grips with the complex neuro anatomy and terminology regarding stroke! It is very complex and I am finding it fascinating as I'm learning about the anatomy of the brain - actually seeing in practice how each side of the brain affected corresponds to how the person is physically, mentally and cognitively affected. I've seen that in the OT role within this team, as well as addressing the physical symptoms you are more than likely to be involved with assessing patients cognition and mental health state as stroke can cause a huge variety of problems within these areas. I have observed a variety of memory and cognition assessments and strategies already in my first week. These can be personalised and adapted as every individual is affected differently in these areas.

During my days in the community I went with my educator to visit a service called Think Ahead which is a fantastic charity run by stroke survivors that supports people who have had a stroke and their carers through group activities, events and talks. My educator was actually running a presentation for a group there based on memory and changes with mood after stroke. This was really inspiring as the individuals in the group seemed to get a lot of reassurance from the presentation and were able to share their experiences and strategies with others of how to deal with these problems. Being within the group and talking with others was a huge therapy in itself. Seeing this role of an OT was greatly inspiring to me as well - to think of how much you can make a difference to people's lives throughout your career path by doing such a variety of different things. It also made me realise the importance of doing all of these presentations at uni! I hope that one day I will be in a position to run a group or presentation that will help and support others in this way.

Here is a quote that I liked from the presentation from a stroke survivor with aphasia:

"We're not just legs, arms and a mouth... we are human beings with a mixture of emotions. All these feelings; self esteem, self worth, confidence, identity... They're all under attack after stroke. You can feel vulnerable, frightened and you can lose yourself. Psychological support puts you back together again - especially psychological support from someone who's been there before."

Residential Stroke Rehab

My day at stroke rehab highlighted to me the interlinking professional relationship between the OT and the physio within the intense therapy people receive during their stay there - preparing them to return home. I engaged in a kitchen assessment with a patient and also observed some physio sessions. Again I was applying what I already know of OT practice to another different environment. I was also seeing the emotional experiences the patients were going through in their transition from hospital to here and the support the OT can put into place for this.

So that has been my first week. Now I have my bearings, I am looking forward to the rest of my placement and feel I am really going to learn a lot from my experiences here!