Thursday, February 15, 2007
SCARED SPEACHLESS
Hi guys, after another week at RPH ward 6G (cardiothoracic/gen med) and…I’M SCARED…of my patients! I feel they are very fragile. Some have been in ICU for over 10 days before reaching my ward. I am scared to touch them, move them or even ask them to speak because I don’t want them to get too short of breath. Ok, so maybe not that extreme, but I DO take caution with them and feel I ask too many questions of my supervisor and nurses instead of taking charge. When I do make that 'executive' decision, I overlook IMPORTANT underlying factors. I want to be independent…heck, if I’m gonna be working in a couple months…I MUST build confidence…yet I want to assure my patients aren’t in any danger. I am SO taking work home with me, loosing sleep and beating myself up about mistakes. I don’t want to be an awful Physio, but at present, I think I’d be better off working in an art gallery!
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2 comments:
Hi Tara!
Being in ICU at the moment I feel I can probably comment here. In the ICU we see these patients you speak of while they are being kept alive on machines, which we monitor extremely closely, as it is our only means of measuring their distress. We see these people wake up and improve dramatically over the next day or so until discharge. Rest assured that they only come down to the ward when EVERYONE in ICU agrees that they are ready. While they seem very fragile, bear in mind they have already come a long way in terms of progress, to be on the ward with you. Try not to stress too much, be careful-but confident that what you are doing for them is the thing that will help them get better.
Hey Tara,
successful physios make mistakes and learn from them.
It definitely sounds like you want to be your best, and i am sure u already are but probably just dont see it yet.
When i was working back home in singapore, i was like you..bringing work home with me, losing sleep and heck, even dreaming about something i did/didnt do for my patient. that was how my work affected me and if it already is affecting u at "student" level, imagine what it could do to u when u start working.
I have learnt to manage my expectations and learn to accept that i cannot do everything and sometimes, we need to learn things the hard way.
Dont have too high expectations of yourself, most importantly dont bring work home (as much as possible), burning out from your passion because of too much pasison is hazardous.
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