Pavin

= = = = = =  Second Work Experience!!  Day 9 May 22, 2009 The last day of work experience started much like the other days. I came in the morning and looked for missing patient files. Once all the files were found I took a seat in the front and got ready for the morning patients. I pulled all the files and then the patients started arriving. I took the patients to their rooms, marked them off that they had come and collected the fees. I had to do laundry and also clean all the rooms for the patients. This is something that is done throughout the day so basically I clean all day. I also put away files of patients who have not come to the clinic recently. Now that I have finished my work experience I have realized I do not want to be a therapist. It does not seem like I will enjoy it if, I was to pursue it as a career. Some of the things they do are quite interesting like acupuncture, and using tens machines but, I could not do this as a job. My time here was honestly quite dull but, I did pick up a few things during my time there. I know how to diagnose tennis elbow and how to treat it, and stretch the muscles for it. Pretty neat! Day 7 Wednesday May 20, 2009

Today started off like most others. I came in, and looked for missing patient files. We need to find all files because the patient history is located in the files. After we found all the files, we stamped them with the date and got them ready for the patients to come. I sat in the front booking patients for appointments, helping the receptionists, and answering any questions I could that the patients had. I cleaned all the rooms that needed cleaning after they were used, I took patients to their rooms and then it was time for lunch. After lunch the day was pretty slow. There were only two therapists working therefore there were less patients and less activity. Idid some laundry, did some more filing and got ready for the next day. I pulled all the files for the next day and cleaned up everything. This led to home time. There are many jobs at the physiotherapy and hand clinic. One of the experiences that I had today were very inspiration, a man injured his hand during his work on his fishing boat and its unbearable pain. We asked him how he can handle it, and he said that yes its difficult but coming everyday to the clinic makes him feel better because we treat him so well and he knows he's getting better with our help. There are receptionists, kiniesiologists, hand therapists, occupational therapists, general managers, and physiotherapists.

Day 5 May 15, 2009 Well as slow as a snail moves that’s the pace of which my week went by. It was so long and honestly I have been waiting for the end of Friday’s workday for far too long! During the week however, there were still a few interesting things that I got to see. I got to see shock therapy for muscle rehabilitation. An occupational therapist used electric impulses to stimulate the muscles of a hand that couldn’t move. It was neat to see how the hand with these pulses going through it moved on its own. I also got to see people having splints put on them and the therapists using ultra sounds. I started my day today filing charts (like I do pretty much all day of everyday.) It’s not fun and it’s extremely boring! After this I had to do laundry, which was even worse. After the laundry I had to clean the physiotherapy rooms after the physiotherapist were done with their patients. I spray down the beds with disinfectant spray, put new sheet covers on the pillows, and then wash the gel off of the equipment. I’m basically a janitor. Cleaning is an on going task. As I’m sitting at the front desk filing the patient charts I see the horrible sight of a red flag go up at the physiotherapy doors and I know that’s my signal to clean. Besides cleaning and filing I get to book patients appointments and charge them for their visits. It’s fun to see all the different people. A lot of them have very tragic stories about how they got their injuries and it’s quite sad listening to them sometimes. All the staff at the clinic are very nice and it’s a pretty relaxed environment. Everyone’s always telling stories or jokes. The people are really great. My first week is done and I’m extremely pleased that it is. It was a boring week but perhaps next week when I __might__ be able to do something will be better.

Day 1 May 11, 2009  Today was the first day at Guildford Physiotherapy and Hand Clinic. I started my day off with a tour of the clinic, filing out the necessary paperwork that was needed and then, I read a training overview book. After this I got to shadow one of the hand therapist. These people work with patients who suffer hand, arm or wrist damage. They provide exercises for the patients to strengthen weakened limbs and they also create splints to help hold and keep mobility in the hands. These people are also known as occupational therapists. I saw a number of different toys that people had to play with that were made to strengthen injured arms and hands. I got to watch the therapist wrap up hands, and dip people’s hands into wax. That was pretty interesting. After this I helped the receptionists do some of the patient filing. This was pretty boring and made my back hurt actually. It’s a good thing I’m working in a physio clinic! I watched some more treatments of injured hands and then I went for lunch. Once I came back from lunch, I got to work with a different hand therapist. I saw her use and ultrasound machine to help tissue damage in a man's arm and I helped her conduct a test with a graduated cylinder which determined how much a man’s had would swell. It used the indirect measuring technique of water displacement. I also got to work with a kinesiologist today. This was actually pretty fun. They create work out plans for people and I understood a lot of the exercises because I do weight training sometimes. After this I worked with the hand therapist again. I watched her put silicon gel strips on a lady to help with scars. This gel is so expensive it costs $5 for every inch of strip. I made a finger splint with the hand therapist and got to take it home. We made it by taking hard plastic dipping it in hot water, and then molded it to fit my finger. We then cut away excess and put Velcro on it. It was fast, simple and splints are very effective in stopping a certain range of motion (if that motion causes damage.) All in all today was quite boring and I do not wish to pursue a career in occupational therapy or physiotherapy. This is the first day however, so my feelings about this may change, as I get more settled into my position. =March 4, 2009 = Today was my third day at my workplace. I am working at the Evergreen Hamlet’s. It is a very interesting place. Jobs range from being janitors, maintenance staff, cooks, nurses, care aids, recreational managers and recreational aids. All these jobs are very tough jobs and are busy throughout the day. Honestly, a job here is not an easy one. Sometimes you have to deal with abuse from residents and this is not a fun time. It is a great place but it is a difficult environment to deal with. My day began with assisting the residents in Bingo. First the recreational aids Katie, Jas, and myself brought the residents down to the auditorium and set up for the game. In order to be a recreational aid you must complete a diploma in recreational therapy. If you would like to be the recreational manager you must get a degree in rec. therapy from either Douglas College, or a school on the east coast. Currently only two universities offer this degree program. My second part of the day was reading resident medical histories. This way when I meet a resident I would have a little insight into them. This was a big help because it allowed me to understand why certain residents behaved the way they did. Today was a very exciting day because it was the first time I did a “One to One” with a resident. A “One to One” is a time when someone who isn’t capable of being part of group programs gets to interact with a recreational aid. It’s very important to have these one on ones because it gives the resident social interactions that they may be missing. I had a one to one with a resident that suffers from Huntington’s disease. We looked at all his pictures he had in his scrapbook and he was happy to tell me where and why the pictures were taken. It made me feel really good knowing that just by talking to him and spending some time with him I was making him happy. It is very rewarding work. As I continued on in the day I had another “One to One” but this time I learned something that I am going to remember for a very long time and it is engraved in my memory. I was talking with this resident and he was a PhD. He was a very educated man who one day woke up and his entire life was changed. He was a runner but one day he couldn’t run anymore. This gentleman was diagnosed with MS, and this severe brain disease makes muscle movements hard. He told me the story but he kept on repeating “be happy just be happy.” He wasn’t complaining about his situation he was just thankful he was alive and comfortable at Evergreen Hamlets. This is definitely a life lesson, even if you are given some of the worst situations in life, “just be happy.” After lunch I played blackjack with the residents and we encountered a very scary situation. A resident became agitated and he started acting up. He tried hitting and strangling a care aid. We got ourselves out of the situation and we were all fine. Something about this workplace is you have to be aware of what is going on and make good decisions to keep you safe and to avoid conflict. This took me up to 5 pm when my shift ended for the day. I had a very interesting day filled with exciting moments.

= March 5, 2009 =  Today was a good day at Evergreen Cottages. I started my day by reading resident medical histories in the east building. I then made my way down to “Graceland 1” a level on the main building at Evergreen Hamlets and assisted the recreational aids with darts. There was a pub outing that same of the residents and my co-workers were going on but, I unfortunately because of my age didn’t get to go on the outing. Instead I had two one to one’s with the residents. I played connect 4 with these two people. Unfortunately the first time around the person who I was playing against beat me terribly round after round. When it came to the second person I got a little bit smarter and I won a few at least. After lunch I led my own program for the first time. I did manicures on the ladies. It was pretty fun and I got to chat with a woman who acquired a brain injury because of being in a coma. After the manicures the recreational manager (Jason) took me around to meet some of the residents in the new buildings. This was a very good experience I had with a co-worker. I was a bit scared to walk around and talk to people but having him there with me allowed me to become more comfortable. I saw some pretty amazing people. I saw a boy who was only 19 years old and he had a severe brain injury. He was a normal teenager and one day he went to work and was never the same. He had a disease that he always had but just acted up one day. Seeing him I almost cried and had to hold back the tears so I wouldn’t embarrass myself. This was totally unexpected. I know I’m very emotional but I never thought seeing someone who’s sick would make me cry. Just thinking how young he was though, and how he had his life ahead of him and how it was taken from him made me feel so sad. I thought to myself as I saw him lying in his bed that you really never know what’s going to happen to you and this experience of seeing him as he was now and before his illness will definitely be engraved in my memory. It taught me to not take things for granted because you really never know what may happen to you, which is actually a scary thing. I ended my day off the same way I started it, I read up on more of the residents that I met during the day. It was a good way to calm myself down from all the emotions and things I saw.

= March 6, 2009 = Today was a very long day. It was the day before the weekend started and almost everyone in the facility was waiting for Saturday and visits from their family members. It was a very fun day though, and filled with many interesting activities. I began the day with assisting the residents in Tai- Chi. The residents really love this activity that happens every Friday morning. It gets them active, and moving around and is a very good way to start the morning. A Tai-Chi master comes and teaches the residents the moves and body positions. After Tai Chi we took the residents back to their rooms or places they wished to be and did some one to ones. I worked with another volunteer in the morning and we carried out one to ones together. This was really fun and it gave me a chance to meet some people who I didn’t know as well and that the other volunteer whom I was working with did. These one to ones took us to lunchtime. After lunch we set up Nintendo wii for the residents to play. I played bowling and baseball with the residents who attended the program. This is a very good game for the residents because it is fairly simple and it causes movement, which is very good for the residents. After the wii section I had some more one to ones. I played connect 4 with two residents. After this game, I set up “Weekend Warm Up”. This is an event that takes place every Friday in the auditorium. Residents come down to listen to a live band, have drinks, and eat snacks. It’s the social event of the week that is enjoyed by most of the residents. Even some of the residents who do not like coming down to programs will leave their rooms and enjoy weekend warm up. I danced with some of the residents who were in wheel chairs and everyone had a good time. We cleaned up after this event, wrote in the attendance binder and marked down all the people we met with and who attended our programs for the day. This was the end of the day and then I was off home to start my weekend.

I really enjoyed my first week at Evergreen Hamlets and there are ten things I would like everyone to know about it here. First of all it is care facility. It is an adult care center for people with medical problems. It focuses  in care for Adults with Brain Injury, Huntington's chorea, Multiple Sclerosis and Cerebral Palsy. It provides 24 hr care for all of its residents. It has some of the best staff imaginable. They are caring, loving and extremely patient people. It houses a pool so residents can have aqua therapy, it is not a rehab centre like I was told, it is located in Fleetwood, it is one of the only care facilities in Surrey that focuses on brain injuries, its décor and naming of the buildings are based on celebrities. For example the new building levels are called James Dean and Marilyn Munroe and the main building is named Graceland 1 and 2 after Elvis. It is a great place for residents to live in. It not only does a wonderful job for taking care of its residents but it also goes the extra step to make sure they are happy, comfortable and enjoying their stay. Today started off with arriving at 9:00am as per usual. I wrote in the attendance book as to who I had seen for a one to one on Monday and got organized for the mornings program. We were going to start the day of with bowling and news and views. News and views is when the residents have the newspaper read to them and then discuss their opinion about the article. We gathered all the residents wanting to come down and we started our program. During gathering however, a resident who at first said she wanted to go to the program then changed her mind as she was in the elevator frantically trying to go out ran over my foot and tore my skin open. It hurt so bad. The rest of the morning went very smoothly. We ran the program which everyone enjoyed and we took all the residents back to their areas. After the program we wrote in the attendance books and then we decorated the buildings for St. Patrick’s Day. When we were putting up these decorations a woman who was Irish got really excited and her excitement made me more excited for the holiday. This was a very positive experience I had with a resident (customer) today. After the decorations it was time for lunch. Following lunch, we ran a trivia program with the residents. We played trivia pursuit and also 20 questions. After this finished and we took the residents back to their floors I read the medical history of the residents on James Dean and Marilyn Munroe. Once this was completed it was time for Casinotime. This is when we play blackjack with all the residents. I was able to run my own table this time because I had been part of it last week and all the residents seemed to have a very fun time. This took me to 5:00 pm and home time. All in all today was a very good day with the mild exception of my foot.
 * March 10, 2009**

= March 13, 2009 = Today was my last day at Evergreen Hamlets on my work experience assignment. Is was a very good experience I had here, and I am very happy that I was assigned to this care facility. Now that I have neared my work experience, I have realized this is not the work I wish to do in my life. There is no way I want to be a recreation aid. Although the job was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it, I know that I do not want to be doing this for the rest of my life. I feel that it is not suited for me. I do not want to do anything like this either. Since being on work experience I learned that working and school are completely different. In my opinion, working is much easier. When you finish work you go home and there is nothing to think about until the next day. When you finish a day of school however, there is so much to think about. You have to finish your homework, most likely you have to study for an upcoming exam or quiz, and you have to make sure you understood the lessons that were learned in school. When working you are there for 8 hours an extremely long time, and school you are there for about 6 hours. This is a difference that I found very hard to overcome. Right around 3:00 everyday I started getting tired but, I still had 2 more hours of work. The similarities of work and school are, you are expected to be on time, working hard, no cell phones allowed, and you need to be doing what was expected of you. My day began with gathering the residents for a Tai-Chi session (this is how every Friday morning starts at Evergreen.) Once Tai Chi was finished along with some of the student nurses who were just starting to work at Evergreen we made St. Patrick’s Day cards. Many of the residents love doing crafts so this was a perfect way to introduce the new students to the residents. Everyone seemed to enjoy him or herself. This card making led to lunch. After lunch I along with two other volunteers (one who was actually on a science co-op placement like myself the other was a Douglas College student) held one to ones with some of the residents who normally do not attend programs. This was a good experience because the three of us were together on the same floor and although we were doing one to one’s it still felt like I had other people with me. On Friday I met some new people who I had never talked to and it was a very good day. After the one to one’s, we the volunteers had to set up for “Weekend Warm Up”. We didn’t have the help of the recreational aids because they had left early so, we were doing a lot of work. We set up the auditorium, gathered the residents who wanted to come, and then we served the drinks and food. The day finished with the residents dancing, eating, and waiting for their weekend to begin. Once we took the residents back to their homes, the day ended and I started my Spring Break! 