Deep Thoughts

With the last two weeks of fieldwork staring me in the face, I think I've begun to realize that outpatient therapy is not the place for me.  Not that I haven't enjoyed it (it has been amazing) or that I haven't learned anything (my brain has exploded with the information I've learned), but the pace seems a little too slow.  I'm seeing the same people over and over and OVER again with little to no improvement.  Or they are improving and I just can't see it, I'm not sure which.  Also, twelve weeks is entirely too long for fieldwork, it needs to be 10 weeks.  I feel like I'm hitting burnout, and I'm not even practicing on my own yet!  Seems a bit strange, doesn't it?  I'm curious to find out whether or not this will happen and all the same emotions will hit during my fall fieldwork. Pretty sure it will.

This weekend was relatively quiet, but the end of last week was unbelievable hectic.  Bonnie (my supervisor) has been out of town since Thursday and I'm mostly on my own  with a handful of patients we didn't cancel.  Everything has been just fine, and I even spent some time doing the following:

Lymphedema

Wound Care

(nasty business, but it was so cool!)

Inpatient Rehabilitation 

(where I got to work with a woman who had bilateral trans-tibial amputations done due to wounds not healing)

Hands 

(carpal tunnel, brachial plexus injury)

Behavioral Health Unit

(similar to a psychiatric ward)

Needless to say with all of that going on plus some of my regular patients, the last few days have been rough.  I'm glad Bonnie will return to work on Wednesday.  Not sure I could handle the stress of her entire schedule. 

One More Month

How is it that EIGHT WEEKS have already gone by??  I think back to my birthday and Megan's graduation and moving all of my stuff out of the place I called home in Omaha for two years, and it feels like it really wasn't so long ago.  Although the next four weeks will likely be the most challenging (this week I got promoted to having a full patient caseload--which is 19 patients for me), it will likely be the most rewarding and my time to really shine.  Bonnie told me earlier this week she is finally seeing my comfort and confidence really shine when working with patients.  I might not see it, but she does and my patients do as well.  Oddly enough, this week was rather uneventful and aside from my 3 new evals, two of which did not show up.  

I found this GIF awhile back, and it seems appropriate to share it now with y'all.  The caption that goes with it says:

WHEN YOU REALIZE YOU ONLY HAVE ONE MONTH LEFT OF YOUR FIRST FIELDWORK SETTING

[http://whatshouldwecallot.tumblr.com/]

Definitely how I feel right about now.  I've learned so very much about a variety of things but I'm just now getting into the swing of things and poof, it will be time to leave before I know it.