NHS Bristol Royal Infirmary (Respiratory Unit)

The last physiotherapist I shadowed at the BRI worked in the respiratory unit of the hospital. I was most interested to hear about the rehabilitation of the patients and how a physio can help with this process.

One of her patients had recently undergone an operation and had been having physio to get him back on his feet. The physio explained to us that he was okay to walk now but it was extremely tiring for him and so he rarely walked more than once a day. The physio session we watched was helping him walk up and down stairs. This was something they had not tried yet with him and so he did not know if he could do it or not, but the physio’s were very encouraging which helped him have more confidence in himself.

He was much like the patient in the cardiac unit as he was also frustrated with himself for going at such a slow pace. However, he had a very good sense of humour and therefore was joking a lot, which made the physiotherapists job so enjoyable.. He used the hand rail on the right to stabilise himself and he was able to get up and down the stairs very well. There was such a positive atmosphere in the room, as everyone clapped when he had reached the top and the bottom. The patient seemed  grateful for the physios' help and it  was inspiring to see how important their work is to other people.

NHS Bristol Royal Infirmary (Cardiac Unit)

The second physiotherapist I shadowed at the BRI worked in the Cardiac Unit of the hospital. Before we entered I was slightly nervous as I didn’t know what to expect. However we did not see any operations but instead went into the rehabilitation part of the Unit. This is where we met a patient who had undergone a  heart operation about a week ago, so you could clearly see the scar across her chest, and she seemed to be very weak. Firstly we had  to talk to her to wake her up a bit more and therefore increase her awareness.

She talked about how she loved to walk with her sons on the mountains and that she missed walking as these were her best memories. It was obvious that she was a very active person and she was becoming more and more frustrated about being unable to get out to bed. When she was asked how she felt she replied saying ‘never get old, it’s such a pain’. I felt an immediate reaction that we must get her back on her feet, and I wanted to help. The physiotherapist suggested we take her for her first walk after her operation, which she was nervous about. She found it extremely difficult to get out of bed and it was a very slow start. I was really intrigued to see how she would cope with walking for the first time.

Once we had helped her get on her feet she smiled, which was such an amazing thing to experience because it showed me how fundamentally important the work of a physiotherapist is - just being out of bed made her so much more happy. She walked very slowly down the corridor for about 50 meters and then she rested and we went back up. She was proud of herself but still frustrated because she wanted to recover more quickly, but the physio told her she would have to be patient as things like this take time. However when he told her she would be able to walk again with her sons she seemed completely reassured and when we left the room she seemed a dozen times happier than when we entered it.

I only played a tiny role in helping her and yet I experienced such a strong feeling that I had assisted in improving somebody’s life, which felt utterly rewarding. If I were to become a physiotherapist I could play a bigger role in situations such as these and therefore my ultimate goal is to help with the recovery and rehabilitation of as many people as I possibly can. I want to help someone like this every day because I feel that improving someone’s life is the most important thing. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to be involved in the hospital to gain such an understanding.

Sport Medicine Clinic Bristol University

21/02/12 Today I went to the Sport Medicine Clinic at Bristol University on Tyndalls Avenue. I shadowed Penny Porter, who is a physio who works there. Firstly she showed me through to the office, where three of the physio’s desks were and it was a really nice atmosphere, because they were all helping each other with everything they needed to get done, such as filling out notes on their patients. Penny showed me her typical daily schedule. She had around 6 patients from 8am to 2p . I found it really exciting as with each patient it was a surprise to see how we could help with the problem they were having. For example, Penny had 2 patients in the day that she had never seen before. This meant that once they had told her the symptoms and she had a look at the problematic area, she would quickly have to make a diagnosis of what she thought was wrong. It seemed completely evident  to her and she made it look easy which I thought was extremely inspiring.

The most common types of injuries Penny had to deal with were  weak knees and the overuse of certain muscles, so a lot of similar stretches were used to loosen the hamstrings, quads, glutes, gastrocnemius and any other muscles around the problem area. Because a lot of the patients were students they lacked time to do the stretches they were supposed to be doing. Penny said that it was obvious if they hadn’t done them as there would be no improvement from the last time she had seen them.

In our break Penny showed me around the building, which I thought was surprisingly nice. The top floor had an indoor track and the gym on the lower floors was huge. Penny said she could use it whenever she wanted to.

Today has further inspired me to want to be a physiotherapist because it has shown me that every day will bring something completely different, and the people you can meet along the way make the job rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable.