Rotation 4 - Cardiorespiratory - Final Entry

Wow! It’s all over!

This year has gone super fast but it’s been a blast and a half!

 Looking back at my initial entry for this cardiorespiratory placement, my expectations were very high as I loved studying cardio at uni. To be honest in the first few weeks I was slightly disappointed with the lack of complex cases I was seeing in my general medical/renal ward. I was able to perform suctioning on a trachy patient again but I felt I did not learn any new techniques on this placement but rather perfected the way I educated patients and performed and interpreted assessments such as auscultation.

I think I became quite good at improving my interpretation of ABGs and can now run a full ward with good time management. That was my biggest personal goal for the year and I received good feedback at the end of the placement for how I handled the caseload.

During the course of the 5 weeks, I addressed my concerns from the initial entry of auscultation and interpreting ABGs and chest x-rays by seeing as many different cases that I could and also re-studying Shane’s notes at home. Also with my time management, I discussed and worked on strategies with my supervisor and tutor to improve this and have now organised a way to perform a good thorough assessment and treatment session in appropriate time limits. Another concern in my initial entry was the safety of the patient and myself. This was never an issue especially in the ward I was working in but in the final week I was given the opportunity to help out in the ICU and here I had an absolute blast with treating such acute patients and having to think about all the precautions of moving them and the beeping machines around me. Another goal I identified in my initial entry was to be “able to explain exercises in simple terms and clearly for the patient”. Seeing as the majority of my patients treatments were breathing exercises and ambulation, I think I did well perfecting my little spiel on explaining the technique simple enough for all patients!

Throughout this placement I know I’ve grown in my techniques, not only in cardio-resp but also in how to handle difficult patients and patients with communication barriers. I’ve enjoyed working with the doctors, nurses and allied health team and think this last placement has secured my thoughts of initially starting out in a hospital when I first graduate. I would like the opportunity to further my skills in cardio – especially in the ICU – but realise that cardio is not all about beeping machines and ‘bagging’ patients.

If I were to sum up all I’ve learnt in the last 5 weeks or the last year, it would be that physiotherapy is only one aspect of a patient’s experience while in the hospital. At times we may not be the most important factor to their recovery but on the other hand sometime without our simple input, it may be the difference of life or death. So even though a patient may not appreciate what we are doing at the time, it is important to treat every patient as an individual and always give it your 100%.