Don't Judge A Patient By Their Chart

     The morning of our first fieldwork treatment session I was surprised to realize that I was a lot more excited than nervous.  After all--this is what I WANT to DO with myself. What a sense of purpose going to this week's  session gave me! Once I arrived and actually met my patient, I felt invigorated. It was amazing. I felt as though I'd lucked out too for she truly was a pleasant person to work with. This particular patient was very willing to try all of the activities I had planned for the session--even when she struggled a bit--she still gave it her all. I really appreciated and admired that about her.
     This session gave me the opportunity to use some clinical skills when I needed to modify a crayon so it could be held by the patient, whose wrist was in a cast. I used PVC pipe, cloth, and tape to make it more like a large marker which was a bit easier to work with. Professionally I presented myself well but had some blank spots where I was thinking of what to do next. I'm not comfortable with the silence this can cause and I think I need to work on the flow of the session more.One thing I learned was that I CAN do this! It was a definite confidence booster for me and I'm grateful to have gotten off to a good start. My favorite part of the session was when I told my patient that I had seen her room and that it was lovely. She smiled so big and looked at me as if she were really happy--it was at this moment that we connected and that felt fantastic.                                                       
      Before I met her, my patient was just words on a page as we were allowed to each do a chart review on our patients in preparation for seeing them. Before I even met her, I had made some presumptions about my patient based on her diagnosis. I did this I think so I would feel prepared for anything but I won't make this mistake again. During the 35 minutes I spent with her, my patient behaved in the opposite manner I would have expected. I was quick to realize this and it was a great lesson in assumption prior to investigation.