Final Entry: November 16, 2008

Upon finishing the unit, I am very happy that it is over, because it was incredibly tiring, but I also am very grateful for the whole experience. Firstly looking back on it, I didn’t realise how tiring the process would be. I expected to leave the hospital each day and have the remainder of the day left to do things, but put simply, I didn’t because most days I would leave completely exhausted. I also feel I received a lot more ‘hands-on’ experience than I was expecting and because I was doing these hands-on activities with the patients from day 1, I got to see many things, but because I also got to perform them many times I also got experienced and fairly skilled at performing some of these tasks.

From participating in the unit, I definitely learnt the importance of treating the patient as a person or a whole and not just as an injury or a case. I learnt the importance of documentation, where if you record things well, then you know exactly what you have done if you are to look back on it in the future. Also in working with a multi-disciplinary team where the patient may tell different members of the team different pieces of information, it becomes important to document the information that has been provided to you. I’ve also learnt the importance of improvisation. Working in amputees, which is a very specialised department, there is a lot of specialised equipment for these people, but if you do not have the resources at your disposal, then it is important to get imaginative and creative with exercises and also with the equipment that you do have. For example, if working in a remote environment, you aren’t going to have the same equipment as the rehab hospital does, but for the sake of the patient, you are just going to have to make the best effort with the resources that you do have. I also learnt lots about diabetes – I never realised just how serious diabetes was before participating in this unit.

I really enjoyed this placement, I did have a few incidents along the way, but I guess that’s to be expected in a profession where there are so many different opinions flying around the place. However, I learnt so many things, saw some incredible things and met a lot of amazing people too! This was a great experience for me, but after 5 weeks, I am glad it’s over!

Ozzman out!