On my neeuro placemetn I treated many patients suffering from acute, seroius strokes. One patient in particular was 6 weeks post a severe right MCA infarction. At the time of my placement, he had no head control, left sided inattention and was able to comunicate with basic yes/no answers but would often respond inapproprately. Due to his injuries and circumstances he presented very child-like.
While treating this patient I started to think. How much do these patients understand of what were saying to them, will they remember later on in their rehab what we said?? While treating him I found myself babying him. Talking to him and encouraging him as if he was a child. I felt really bad about this, and discussed with my supervisor how you can encourage with out babying.
I came to the conclusion that I have to, no matter what, talk to and treat the patient with regards to their age. I need to then encorporate the encouragement into the feedback to the patient in a proffesional and friendly manner. Ihave started to learn what is more appropriate, butit it is difficult. With more time and experience it will become easier and more natural.
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With patients who are suffering from some form of neurological deficit, their insight sometimes tend to be a little affected. I guess there is no other way than to continue being patient and talk to them in a way where they are able to reciprocate. I did not really think of myself as babying my patients, rather, altering the way i speak to them due to the lesion that they have. I hope this helps!
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