Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Un-Glamorous OT Moments

Having worked at an insurance company, been a housekeeper in the Emergency Room of a Northern Alberta Hospital and landscaped the grounds of various Assisted Living Facilities one summer when I was 20 I thought I knew unglamorous!

Little did I know that as an Occupational Therapist I would be...

-wiping dried bowel movement off of a patient's groin and buttocks while the PT holds him up

-accidentally kneeling in a bed full of urine while holding a patient in a sitting position


-cleaning the toilet of an old man (pubic hairs and all) before installing his new raised toilet seat because no one else would do it


-inspecting a hoarder house (including their disgusting bathroom) while trying not to touch anything


-trying not to laugh or fall asleep while watching a patient struggle with a cognitive task for 30 minutes in a sweaty, stale room


-teaching a 29 year old man how to wipe his butt after a back injury

-holding a Parkinson's patient, who also happened to be going to the bathroom, in a standing position at a grab bar in the shower while his super hot son hoses him down

-jumping in to hold up a 300 lb patient during a transfer after my student started crying and couldn't do it anymore

-lowering a patient to ground to protect her back after she loses her balance playing Wii bowling

and...

-translating what one hard of hearing patient is yelling at their hard of hearing spouse, including "this is bullshit!"


No comments:

Post a Comment