Paramedic science degree (Medical) - Essay Example

We then supported her back while she slowly stood. With the help of a walker, she walked a few steps outside her room. When she expressed that she was getting tired, we assisted her to the wheelchair and wheeled her into the rehabilitation clinic. She was also a very anxious patient and feared that she might fall again and further injure herself. She was also feeling depressed and melancholy; she felt like there was no point in her trying to recover from her injuries. Feelings (What was I thinking and feeling?) I felt that the process of assisting the patient was a long and tedious process; but I knew that it was something we had to patiently undergo.

This step by step process of transporting the patient from each point to the next helps prevent further injury and ensures that the patient would be able to safely regain her mobility and independence. Regaining mobility and independence after partial hip surgery is crucial to the patient’s recovery. In a study by Freburger (2000, p. 448), the researcher was able to establish that physical therapy after hip arthroplasty helps to improve patient outcomes and to ensure home discharge. I felt that discharging the patient to home care would help calm and ease her anxieties; calming her anxieties about falling is essential towards achieving mobility and independence.

Evaluation (What was good and bad about the experience?) What was good about the experience was that, I learned the importance applying safe methods of moving and transporting patients. Safely transferring and transporting the patient from one point to another requires technique and guidance from the physical therapist. I learned that all elements of the transfer and transport must be coordinated with all the members of the medical team in order to ensure the safe and stable transport of patients (Durch, p. 209). The physical therapist was able to teach us proper techniques of transferring the patient – techniques which were not too difficult for the patient to adopt while also being ergonomically safe for the transport team to apply.

Ergonomically safe techniques in transporting patients help prevent injuries on the part of the transport team (Nelson and Baptiste, 2004). What I found bad about the experience was that I felt like the medical team was pushing the patient too hard. Granting that early mobility would help her regain her independence, I could see from the patient’s demeanour that she really was finding the process very exhausting. I felt that we needed to include counselling also to her treatment in order to help her deal with her anxiety and post-surgery depression.

Depression after surgery, especially for the elderly is a common occurrence. Treating that depression helps ensure that she would do well during the rehabilitative process (McConnell, n.d., p. 3). Analysis (What sense can I make of the situation?) This situation emphasizes the importance of applying safe methods in the transfer and transport of patients. Post-surgery patients, especially the elderly, already have compromised mobility, but it does not mean that they cannot move at all or that they will never regain their mobility.

Learning the safe and appropriate ways to assist them in regaining mobility is an important function for the medical team. In the process however, the team must also learn how to