Level 2 number 2 weeks 1-2

Well here I am, in the middle of week two of my second (AND LAST) fieldwork placement! I Arrived in Newport News almost two weeks ago- on a thursday morning- and spent all day thursday and friday organizing and unpacking. It was a little rough thursday night after my mom left bc I was just so sad and nervous about being over 4 hours from home but things are getting much better now and I'm settling in pretty good.

That monday I had to be at the facility at 8:30 for orientation most of the day. The lady that did my orientation was nice, but kindof odd and I didn't really feel that comfortable around her. She had way too many awkward pauses and gave me some odd looks. Then I met my supervisor and the other people on the 3rd floor around lunch time. That just wasn't a good day for me. I sat with them all during lunch and no one said anything to me the entire 30min lunch break...i mean NOT ONE WORD. I was just sitting there wondering why they are so unfriendly?? oh and that day, the doctor's bought them a few papa john's pizzas and they were all digging in right in front of me and didn't even offer a piece.... i just thought that was extremely rude.

Luckily, things have gotten better and people are much more friendly now, BUT you only get one chance at a first impression...and that wasn't a good one.

Anyways, the place I am at is an Inpatient Rehab Hospital. I am on the 3rd floor which is mainly Ortho, General Debilitation and SCI. The 2nd floor is the Neuro floor (CVA, TBI) and then there is a 4th floor that is a long-term acute care unit.  The patients on the 2nd and 3rd floor get 3 hours of therapy a day meaning they get 1 1/2 hr each of OT and PT (if speech isn't involved). They usually break it up and see each patient 3x a day for 30 minutes at a time. So it makes scheduling kindof weird.

Last week on Wednesday, I got my first patient to treat. He had a R BKA (below the knee amputation) We have been working on transfers, dressing, bathing, core strength/stability, balance, and upper body strengthening. On Friday I got a second patient- she has back surgery and ended up leaving today to prepare for her son's wedding on friday. Today, I got a third patient and actually did her eval. She is the cutest old lady and so tiny. She fell at home and fractured her patella (knee cap).

But, there are only 6 patients on the floor right now which is just RIDICULOUS. So they are possibly going to close the floor and send the rehab staff to a different facility until they get more admissions.

So that has been my week and a half in a nutshell.