'Unity is strength..."

"...when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved."

I see these achievements as a result of teamwork every single time I am on prac. I have been placed in such a wonderful position to see the growth and progression of patients and the effect that a collaborative approach can have on this growth and progression.

First a bit of background regarding the facility and what therapists can be found there. There are Occupational therapists, Occupational therapy technicians, physiotherapists, physiotherapy technicians, speech therapists, psychologists, dieticians and social workers. As you can see, that is quite a list.

At first, things were a bit rocky, as the therapists were very strict about having supervision throughout the session and not handling a client on your own. As things progressed, it became a case of “I have to quickly go grab something, just look after my patient for a couple of minutes.” This can be rather scary when a physiotherapist says “just WALK with my patient while I go grab something…” like this is NOT my expertise… and come to think of it, I don’t actually have any expertise because I’m still learning to be an OT never mind a physio! 

This was me internally...

So you can imagine the internal screaming taking place in that moment and chanting that I have not dropped a patient and today will not be the day that that changes. So the therapist have given us a lot more freedom and even chat to the students regarding progress notes that are sent to medical aid boards to motivate for a longer stay.

I have had a wonderful experience with the therapists I have been collaborating with when it comes to specific clients. The physiotherapist working with my patient informed me of things she was doing in her session and I informed her of what I was doing in my session so we could incorporate aspects of one another’s session for consolidation. She also always passes on key information about the clients we both see. The physiotherapist also informs me of big milestones that they are going to tackle, such as walking for the first time, so that I can go and observe.

I have also had meetings with the social workers and psychologists and they are very happy to listen to observations that have been made and address the issues brought up.  I have asked speech therapists for LOTS of advice with regards to my CVA patients who have speech difficulties and how to handle things like word finding difficulties and slurred speech, and they are always very helpful and understanding – especially when I hit panic mode when I received a client with global aphasia – meaning he can’t express himself, nor can he understand what I am saying. Advice given is always easy to implement and effective.

The technicians, both OT and physio, are always willing to help, from a transfer, to assisting during a session or group, anything. I have not yet had to interact with the dietician as her assessments and interviews generally take place as soon as the client is admitted to the facility and the students generally receive patients who have been at the facility for over a week.

As you can see, the multidisciplinary team is collaborating so well with a student, you can just imagine how well they collaborate with each other. You often see the therapists standing together chatting about their patients and their progress and how to go forward.

This collaboration is so important, as each discipline is an expert in their field, therefore each therapist has a major contribution to add to any patient they see as every discipline addresses something different. It’s all good and well a patient is fully functioning physically, but emotionally they can’t take the stress at home or work to be able to put their functional skills to work. Or a patient can walk but they are unable to speak or understand what is being spoken about. Or … I think you get the gist of it. Each therapist has something they can bring to the table, and when they work collaboratively, such as incorporating speech techniques in an OT session, or consolidating on OT aspects in a physio session (e.g. bed mobility or wheelchair mobility) just ensures the patient is receiving optimal therapy that will improve the prognosis significantly.

Teamwork = dream work

However clichéd it might sound, teamwork really does make the dream work, and what could be more important than enabling others live their lives to the fullest? 

So my quote ending quote for this post:

“Teamwork divides the work and multiplies the success.”

References

Teamwork is Crucial To Workplace Success - business.com. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.business.com/articles/5-reasons-why-teamwork-is-crucial-to-workplace-success/

Unity Quotes - BrainyQuote. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/unity

Health gif 7 » GIF Images Download. (2019). Retrieved from https://gifimage.net/health-gif-7/

Vs Penguins GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY. (2019). Retrieved from https://giphy.com/gifs/vs-penguins-orca-YoNk0VExCbJg4