On one of my previous pracs i was in a situation where i was allocated an elderly gentleman to treat. He presented to the department with his wife, son and daughter and i promptly introduced myself as a 4th year physiotherapy student and gave them a brief overview of how our session would include a part where i would be asking some questions (subjective) and doing some assessments (objective) based on his presenting problem then the appropriate treatment.
The family seemed to co-operate intially but just prior to the session starting the son and daughter insisted that a qualified physiotherapist assess and treat their father as they did not want a student as their fathers physio. This took me by surprise and from there i explained how although i am a student a thorough assessment will be performed followed by a discussion with the supervising physiotherapist to ascertain the best course of treatment. I told the family members they could ask questions at any time and even speak to the supervising physio but eventually the elderly gentleman and his family agreed to allow me to treat him and things went well from there.
This situation made me realise as we are students patients often judge us based on this and not our level of skill as a clinician. To overcome such obstacles i feel as though it's important for us to communicate clearly how the patient is going to be assessed thoroughly and treated accordingly based on the decisions of not only myself the student but also the supervising physio during our 4th years as students. Once we are new graduates such situations will most probably not arise as with a qualification comes a certain level of trust from a patient but until then such situations must be dealt with appropriately.
3 comments:
I have had similar circumstances when my supervisor has been in the room while I am assessing a patient. At times they have start talking directly to the supervisor and asking her questions while bypassing me. In these times I often find it best to explain to the patient rhe rlike you did that I was doing a full assessment on them today of which I am capable of doing and that the supervisor was there only to watch and help if I needed therefore they needed to talk to me, not the superisor. Making sure that you come across confident with what you are doing and being clear, to the point and organized also helps to gain the patients trust.
I have had kind of similar situation on my prac, but the family members were outside and waiting at the reception while my patient was assessed.
When this patient received a phone call for booking from the hospital, this patient refused to be seen by a student. After having a long conversation with a receptionist, this patient finally agreed to receive Rx by a PT student.
I was informed this story before my initial Ax on this patient, so I was thoroughly explaining the plan for the day. I thought the whole Rx went well and this patient was smiling, and seemed to be happy.
It was about to make follow-up appointment, I was informed from my supervisor that next appt was already made with a PT. That was a request from parents of this patient.
What I want to try to say here is sometimes it happens like this no matter how well you conduct the Rx. It was hard for me to accept after all, but I could not help it since I was still a PT student. Very sad...
wow, sometimes you still need to step back and have a think of family dynamics, im sure the family are very concerned about their father's wellfare, but i would be suggesting for further treatments that maybe only the wife attended. sometimes family being in attendence can be more of a hindrance than a help, end especially with 3 people. even if you were qualified all three still would have shown up, because they were unaware that you were a student until they got there. by first impressions it seems a little overbearing having wife, daugter and son all there and it would be interesting to see if there was any dramatic change in symptoms/ performance, without the family there with very watchful eyes. but i wouldnt feel scared to ask appropriatey if the wife would only join you in the treatment area.
Post a Comment