My current placement is set up so that some patients from the ward will come to the physio gym for 1-on-1 rehabilitation. The patients who can mobilise independently will make their way to the gym at the appropriate time. I’m currently having an issue with one particular patient of mine. When I speak to him during the session he always mentions how keen he is to stay in physio so he can get strong again and get back to walking. However, the week just gone he came to gym once and the week before that it was 3 times out of a possible 5. Sometimes he complains that he didn’t get his shower so he didn’t come down, other times he just disappears from the ward.
Each time we talk about getting strong again, I mention that he needs to be coming everyday. I have tried numerous approaches to get him to the gym; when I run into him on the ward I remind him about the time for his gym session, I’ve spoken to his nursing staff to get his dressings done earlier and I’ve even tried taking a blunt approach and telling him he needs to come otherwise he’s wasting both mine & his time. It has been quite frustrating because it leaves me with no-one to treat for 2 hours unless I take over someone else’s patient. I just feel that he is a grown man and that I shouldn’t have to spend 30 minutes of my treatment time waiting for him and then having to go and look for…but I often have to and maybe that’s the only way with some people (which seems ridiculous).
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Just a thought... Perhaps there is something entirely unrelated to physio and his motivation going on? It might be wise to take him aside and quietly ask him "what else is going on?". You may need to get that seen to by the relevant person (social worker, family, etc..) before you can help him physically.
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