the confidence in himself

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During inpatient rehab, I also incorporated various non-verbal outlets of communicating with patients during my treatment sessions including: providing educational handouts on fall prevention and energy conservation strategies, and educational videos.

outlets of communicating

regarding my recommendation for the patient's appropriate discharge recommendation

patient

was able to have

CNAs

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From seeing burned clients be painfully bathed and bleached to prevent infection to stretching clients’ skin in order to increase mobility and functionality, I was forced to hold in my emotions and reactions to ensure that the clients were as comfortable as possible.

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It was during the transition from me being an observer during the sessions to be being in charge of the sessions.

ngs. 

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Furthermore, the rehab manager at the Firefighter Burn Center at Regional One posted relevant and new research articles to an online dropbox to which all rehab members have access to. When I saw that she added an article, I made sure to at least review the title and abstract. This gave me an idea of the information available for later use. 

s

e

spreading

The first being the SMA Southern Region Burn Conference mentioned above.

nue

as!

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ractice

as possibl

I think that it is important to be professional at all times in the workplace. It is because of this that I ensure I am dressed and groomed professionally and that my conversations with both co-workers and clients are appropriate. While it is important to speak at the level of the client and to use vocabulary he/she will understand, it is still essential to do this professionally. I do not believe it is appropriate to use curse words or offensive language even if the client uses it. I do not believe it is professional to speak of my personal life if it is not relevant to the client and his/her situation. Throughout both of my fieldwork experiences, I was able to practice these behaviors and grow to appreciate the tact required to remain professional at all times. 

I think that it is important to be professional at all times in the workplace. It is because of this that I ensure I am dressed and groomed professionally and that my conversations with both co-workers and clients are appropriate. While it is important to speak at the level of the client and to use vocabulary he/she will understand, it is still essential to do this professionally. I do not believe it is appropriate to use curse words or offensive language even if the client uses it. I do not believe it is professional to speak of my personal life if it is not relevant to the client and his/her situation. Throughout both of my fieldwork experiences, I was able to practice these behaviors and grow to appreciate the tact required to remain professional at all times.

mes

re

and/o

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or him

uffs.

practice.

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nts. 

lead

lients

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provided

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ect

wheelchair bound.

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See my blog post

me

as the patient was going to be a total transfer

demonstrating more than normal confusion

and get into place

lined the wheelchair up

evaluated

mod

me take steps tow

Finally, I educated the staff about about the time the splint should be left on for and the skin checks that should happen before and after the splint application

nt

ain w

the geriatric in t

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at-risk children

in mi

continue to develop participation in continuing education

ur mentor wanted to learn more about the evidence that supported the Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) feeding approach and  if they should continue using this feeding therapy in their pediatric outpatient clinic based on available research.

pply.

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presented to

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See th

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se

ents and gestures which often become smaller, unsteady, and affects their ability to get around and complete functional tasks.

changes in an individual's brain affects 

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tient over t

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as mom

Even though she gave me the opportunity to express my discomfort and request her presence, I decided this was a good opportunity to build upon what I had learned and challenge myself to meet with the patient's family along with the other interdisciplinary team.

w

ioner. 

When a professional meets a patient in that state of elevation, it only serves to exasperate it.

elevated

,

is

remind

It depends on the response of the therapist to either increase or diffuse tension.

This

I’m learning to feel more comfortable with this learning process required to make this leap and portray confidence with the skills I do have.

ce

help

lend

words and explains

reference

was receiving

reference

knowledge of a growth area

acquisition to

is

Field Work Educator

In addition to this, I studied other resources at home including things to evaluate in those who had undergone a stroke and reviewed manual muscle testing, range of motion measurements, and assessments such as the Berg Balance Scale.

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correlated

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more!

hospital

"During this level II fieldwork, I was faced with an ethical dilemma in regards to the coronavirus. While the hospital knew the virus was beginning to spread nationally, it had not reached Arkansas yet. However, they still had to make the difficult decision to suspend students' clinical rotations in hopes of reducing spread of the virus to patients, families, and necessary staff. This was very upsetting for me and difficult to imagine not finishing out my rotation for many reasons. Not only was I worried about not completing the fieldwork for graduation purposes, but I loved this clinical site and really didn't want to leave. I still had two weeks left for the rotation, but I trusted my supervisors that they understood the need for students to cease direct clinical care at the site far more than I understood. It was then revealed that there were confirmed cases at the hospital. While this is a national pandemic, I didn't realize the full severity of the virus until it reached my clinical site."

the credit we deserve as OTs

locally

for

as the

"While on this rotation at Arkansas Childrens Hospital, I have been on the burn unit for 4 weeks. While being on this unit, I have recognized the distinct value OT has with these clients. Often, many providers turn to the OT first when considering grafting needs, splinting needs, positioning of the patient, surgery, and more before looking for further assistance. However, this has not always been the case with OTs in burn rehabilitation. My supervisor explained how she often had to fight for her role on the unit until she earned the respect of the team and they understood her unique training with not only anatomy and physiology of the body but how this new injury can affect ADLs, social skills, and psychological care. I have taken this information and used it when I treat my clients with burn injuries. I am better able to explain why we do what we do during treatment sessions and relate that back to their overall function and how they will reintegrate back into the community. This has definitely been an interesting population to work with as I have learned to consider how this new injury will completely change their life from now on and how every aspect of the OTPF can be utilized to ensure that this person is able to be as independent as possible and return to functional living."

sticky notes

narios

care.

reaching

tilize

pros

cons

IF

her

She had previously had to have multiple

BUE, and BLE.

While at the facility, I came across a client with schizophrenia who expressed he had feelings for me. This particular client had returned to the unit a few times in the matter of a couple weeks. During his last admission, the patient told an interviewer that he had gotten an OT student pregnant and he was going to marry her. As I was reading the patient's chart and came across this section, I was startled at the delusions this man was experiencing and very anxious about how to handle this situation. Our professors in the past have given us many options on how to handle a situation like this, however, all situations are different and the types of clients who express these feelings will be different. In this case, the patient has a mental health diagnosis with serious delusions and I needed to make sure I was very clear with our therapist-client relationship boundaries. During his stay, the patient asked to sit down with me and continued on to tell me how he felt about me. I immediately responded by explaining that I was part of his medical team and that any sort of relationship between the two of us outside of the hospital would be inappropriate as my job was to ensure he was receiving the best health care possible while he was at the facility. After this conversation, the first thing I did was notify my supervisor. She expressed that she was glad that I came to her with this and if the patient continued to escalate she would help me figure out the next step."

I encountered clients with varying mental health difficulties

c

ire

are

My feelings towards this fieldwork experience felt very different from my last. At the start of my last rotation, I felt very nervous and unprepared for what was to come in those 12 weeks. However, at the start of this rotation, I felt eager and excited to learn all that there was to offer at this site. I had improved my confidence in my skill set from my first rotation and just couldn't wait to see where it led while at this pediatric hospital/unit. With this excitement, I wanted to set very high, yet achievable, goals for myself to ensure my preparedness to transition to entry-level practitioner at the end of the rotation. I met my short term goals while I was on the burn unit of the hospital where I fabricated 2 different types of splints independently, completed independent research over several articles for an evidence-based practice project, and was able to complete treatment plans with assistance from my supervisor. For the remainder of my rotation, I was located on the CVICU, where the clients were in more critical condition. For my long-term goals, I wanted to focus on completing each day as if I was an independent practitioner. This goal would come to be very difficult to reach as I was only able to spend two weeks on the unit, due to the way students rotate between units as well as the scare of the coronavirus. This unit also requires very specialized clinical practices, such as feeding with very critical infants. While I did not feel independent on the CVICU, I did feel independent while on other units of the hospital. For example, while on the inpatient rehab unit of the hospital, I was able to independently complete thorough chart review, plan treatment sessions, write appropriate goals, write evaluation and reassessment documentation, interact with families and staff on the unit, as well as determine if treatment sessions were appropriate based on lab values or prior procedures completed. I felt very confident in my skills on this unit that I could participate as an independent occupational therapy practitioner." 

client's

students are expected to know only be knowledgable i

these

have

is

have

have

have

and weakness

bring my

while in the field that majority of settings uti

my need to find common ground in conflict, finding potential and opportunity in all situations, and my drive to solve problems for everyday situations in the field not only promoted me to become a better student practitioner, but also a better team player.

I learned to utilized

we

have seen

the

have been

ione

is form

really

If there was a case, that I had been working with the client more often than physical therapy, I would be able to provide insight on activities the client enjoys while also including any ideas or activities they needed to work on during the session

ursing