What Bucket
Once, during my practice at the Multidisciplinary Team, a person with a venous ulcer was hospitalized in our hospital. It was an older woman, perhaps about sixty years old, who received this injury because of overweight caused by a sedentary lifestyle of the profession. I remember that she often cried because she thought she couldn’t walk anymore. Due to the frequent crying that sometimes turned into a tantrum, she also was experiencing constant headaches and fatigue. The most unusual thing in this situation was that at one point, she stopped crying and began to behave calmly. It was because she realized that the cause of the venous ulcer was her unhealthy lifestyle. It is important to note that this change occurred in just one day.
So What? Bucket
As part of the treatment, my task was to tell her how to take the necessary medicine. Each time I talked with her, I remembered how I sacrificed my mental and physical health during my student years and professional practice. I felt and interpreted all the fear and pain of this patient (1). Therefore, I decided to also share my personal experience with her to support each other.
Now What? Bucket
Fortunately, during the treatment, the specialists did not have to resort to surgical intervention. It seems to me that during this time, a kind of spiritual connection has formed between us. It helped both of us understand the importance of personal mental and physical health in terms of the past, present, and future. For me, it was a throwback due to which I began to understand the harm that I unknowingly inflicted on myself over the years.
Situation Analysis
I believe that the only omission in this situation was the lack of educational support during treatment. Patients can experience incredible stress during treatment because they do not know the nuances of injuries or illnesses. Moreover, this unique experience led me to a specific idea. It is necessary to develop an educational model that, in a simple form, would explain to patients about the complexity of injuries, for example, using videos or infographics on tablets. It will possibly prevent such harmful things as mental breakdowns.
References
Radja L. Episode 15: What. So what. Now what. 2017. Web.