Nearing the End

Each day I get a little closer to the end of level 1! I can hardly believe how fast the time is flying by! This week I finished up my clinical rotation at the VA and I'll spend the last couple weeks back at school to do some intense clinical simulations; or at least that's what they told us and I'm hoping it's true...because I don't know that they can even compete with my clinical experience!

First of all I just want to brag about the amazing clinical group I got to go with! I had a fantastic instructor and amazing classmates that I'm now proud to call all of them my friend. Everyone was so willing to "share" their client with one another and whenever someone needed to give an injection everyone else would always let that person know when their patient was getting one, or if someone wanted to see wound care everyone would go around and let us know...it was phenomenal!

Seeing as how it is extremely late I'm just going to sum up the experience I had with my client. He was there for rehab to help him learn to walk again after suffering a stroke and bilateral toe amputations. He was discouraged and feeling a little hopeless! I always tried to make sure he was getting his pain meds to help take the edge off of his pain and I tried hard to encourage him as much as possible, but I just never felt like I was getting through. I took time to just sit with him and listen to his stories but still it just didn't seem like enough! However...on my last day as I was telling him goodbye he said, "Thanks for taking the time to listen to me, thank you for giving me enough strength to make it through the days and for encouraging me to make it through my physical education (and by PE he really means PT)." After that he asked if I wanted a "pop" (soda), I gratefully declined and he said he wanted me to go get him a orange pop and a Butterfingers!! :D I don't particularly know how, but somehow I was able to get through to him!

You see, nursing homes (long term care facilities) aren't where people go to die...even though I think that as a society that's what we think...nursing homes are where people go to keep on living...it's where they go to get enough strength to make it through their days and to enjoy their time! It's so easy to get caught up in the "care" we're providing when sometimes all that our patients need is an encouraging word, a back rub, or just for us to sit next to them and listen. It's not comfortable for us...we're all about getting up and at...silence is uncomfortable and it's hard for us to remember that sometimes that's all that someone needs....they just need another person there to draw strength from and to help them make it through each day!