Patient perspective...

In the final week of my final prac for this year I managed to badly injure my knee and end up in a knee splint and on crutches. I was able to see first hand the emergency department of the hospital I was working in, and was instructed to take the week off. Scared of failing my prac, I didn't take time off, and persevered through the week.

What I learnt during this week as a patient/therapist was invaluable. When we are able bodied, we take for granted our mobility, freedom and ability to do the tasks we are required to do with little or no effort. Day to day we see patients either in outpatients or on the wards who are on crutches, have a cast on, are in pain, post-op or in a great many other conditions. Its so easy for us to instruct people to use crutches, or to say 'use this brace for a few weeks', often without realising how hard that will be for the patient in their day to day lives. On doctors orders, I was only allowed to talk to patients, verbally give exercises, do easy hands on tasks and have an assistant for my initial assessments. I wasn't aware of how frustrating this would be! I had to totally change my way of looking at things, and the way that I ran my treatment sessions.

Another 'lightbulb moment' I had during this week was the frustration of not having a diagnosis or prognosis for my injury. Patients often come to us searching for answers, and we are not always able to give them what they want. Due to cirumstances, I was left not knowing what damage I had done to my knee, whether I would require surgery or whether I would simply wake up the next morning and it would be better! This is a scary situation to be in, and we need to be aware of this with all of our patients - be aware of the psychological impact of the injury, as well as the physical marking such as swelling and pain. Mental state can have huge repercussions for recovery and good outcome. Tell them as much as you can - don't assume they won't understand, or shouldn't know. Communicate!!!

Last but not least, I learnt that when you walk with crutches, or limp, or can't do things due to pain, people stare. They just can't seem to help themselves. Don't stare at someone on crutches!!! Help them out if they look like they're struggeling with a heavy door, or simply offer them a seat if you can see they have a brace on and are hurting (I know, as physio students I'm probably preaching to the converted, but I had a surgeon at the hospital take a chair that I was about to sit on, and then say 'that looks painful'. Duh.)

Although injuring myself whilst on prac was not a good thing to have happened, it gave me an invaluable insight into how life is for so many of our patients. One of my patients has been on crutches for 5 years, and will be using some sort of walking aid for the rest of her life. She didn't have a lot of sympathy for my sore wrists from hopping around the hospital on crutches!! Put yourself in the patient's shoes (hopefully not literally like I did...) and then rethink what you want to tell them, or prescribe them to do.