Talisha Dawes

Clinical Experience Reflection #2

September 30, 2022
Going into this clinical, I didn’t really know what to expect. I wasn’t sure the types of

patients I was going to see – ages and diagnoses; I wasn’t sure how dependent of a patient to

expect. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this setting once I got to know it

better! I really liked the more fast-paced environment; I liked how many patients were coming

in and out and how we worked with the same patient multiple times a day. I felt like I was

introduced to so many different things that I hadn’t seen before this clinical, whereas, at my

SNF it was just a lot of the same thing every single day. My first rotation seemed to drag on

forever and this once felt like it flew by; I am actually really sad to be leaving. I got to see high-

level and low-level patients and I got to follow a couple CI’s and see their different approaches

to treatment. I got a ton more experience with neuro patients here and got to be a part of and

see some post-CVA return in one of my patients. It wasn’t all glamorous though – I definitely

dealt with a lot of pee, poop, and vomit! But that just comes with the territory, I guess!

I also really liked working in a team environment like this one. I liked seeing how all the

different disciplines interacted with one another and how often co-treats occurred. It has been

really intimidating to present and rely patient progress at our daily/weekly team meetings with

all the doctors and nursing staff, but it is definitely a skill I will need in the future, so I am really

glad to have gotten practice. I feel much more comfortable working with hospital equipment:

tubes, lines, poles, beds (rails and alarms), supplemental oxygen management, taking vitals,

urinals, and catheters. I also got so much more practice with transfers and different mobility
equipment: such as the sara-steady, arjo walker, and vector system. I also got more experience

with interacting with more emotional and high anxiety patients, which was really challenging

but I am glad for all that I learned. Sabrina has been an excellent CI. She is so warm and

understanding with patients – it has been so good to see how she approaches and handles

those types of situations. It’s hard to know the right things to say sometimes.

I’ll be honest, I do feel like the first couple weeks were really rough for me. I felt like I

had so much information coming at me and trying to keep up with it all and perform well was

really overwhelming for me. My CI likes to say differently, but honestly, my first couple weeks I

just felt like I was struggling to say afloat. I really liked working with the ortho patients, but the

neuro and low-level patients were so challenging for me. I was really challenged to think

outside the box, and I committed to doing my own research outside of clinic to start feeling

more comfortable and prepared with those patients.

I feel like one of my biggest accomplishments this clinical is getting one of our more

agitated patients to work with me consistently. This patient would refuse therapy from other

staff members, but I was able to get him to work with me on a daily basis and we were even

able to get him discharged last week. I got many compliments from my CI and the other

therapists on my ability to connect, empathize, and redirect him as needed in order to get

meaningful therapy sessions consistently. My CI was very proud of me for that - she said, "some

things can't be taught, and that "skill" is one of them." I felt like this case was the turning point

for me in this rotation. I felt so much more confident in myself and my knowledge after being

successful with this patient.

 Overall, I think this was a really good clinical experience for me. I feel like I have so much

more information and insight to take with me into my next one and into my future jobs.