NHS Frenchay Hospital 13/06/12

On the third day in Frenchay Hospital, in the Hand Centre, I was able to observe more of the same rehabilitation techniques which enabled me to pick up the smaller and more intricate details about fractures, mallet injuries, dislocations, tendon and ligament damages, and many more injuries. Due to a broader range in my understanding I could then predict the possible treatments to the injuries of various different patients. I observed a general clinic in the hand centre in the morning from 9am-12:30pm. I then went to the trauma clinic in the afternoon from 1pm-4pm.

My favourite part of the 3^rd day of my placement was observing the work in the trauma clinic because the injuries there are much more recent and therefore generally more severe and the treatment required is more immediate. This meant that I saw a variation of types of splints they were using for hand injuries, and how to mould and fit them.

NHS Frenchay Hospital 12/06/12

On the second day I spent the day in the trauma clinic of Frenchay Hospital, shadowing one of the physiotherapists from the hand centre. This was really interesting as I was able to grasp more of an understanding of how the X-rays work, and that they make a correct diagnosis much easier. This is because it uses invisible electromagnetic energy beams to produce images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film, so the injury is accurately shown.

For example, in the trauma clinic the most common injury was dislocation of the bones and fractures, which I can now easily identify from a patient's X-ray. The treatments however always varied slightly due to the different severity of the injury. For example, a full dislocation, which occurs when extreme force is put on a ligament, allowing the ends of two connected bones to separate, will take a longer time to heal and possibly need a longer period of physiotherapy. Also nerves take up to 12 weeks to completely repair. Therefore, if any nerves are damaged in a particular injury then physiotherapy is likely to last up to 12 weeks. I spent the morning from 9am-12:30pm in one particular area of the trauma clinic (section 3), and then in the afternoon from 1pm-4pm I was able to wander around more and watch bits of almost every case that came into the trauma clinic.

It was amazing to see the variety of different types of injuries. For example, It was fascinating to see the progress from X-rays and pictures of before and after physiotherapy on a woman with a crocodile bite on her little finger. Another patient also had a pen lid stuck in his hand. I was incredibly lucky to be able to watch this being removed from the patient's hand, which was an amazingly interesting experience. They started by injecting an anaesthetic into the injured hand and then iodine was applied to the area the doctor needed to cut into. I then observed the procedure to get the pen lid out of the hand which was pretty horrific but I had never seen anything like that in my life and so I found it intriguing.

NHS Frenchay Hospital 11/06/12 (General Ward)

On the first day of my work experience in Frenchay Hospital I worked with the volunteers on Wards 201 and 202. From 8am-12:30pm I made tea and coffee for the patients on the ward and chatted to them while making sure they didn’t need anything else. I found this job highly rewarding as I was able to actually interact with the patients instead of just observing, I was really able to understand the hospital environment by talking to the patients and my understanding of the functioning of the wards became clearer. For example the wards I was in were all virtually full the whole day, which made the environment constantly busy, and there was always something to do.

Then from 1pm-2pm I gave the patients in the wards lunch, which was a very frantic process as everyone had to make sure they were giving each patient what they wanted and at the right time. This was rewarding as each patient seemed so grateful for our help and dedication to their needs. This was made possible by the patients ticking boxes of particular foods they wanted on a piece of paper, so they didnt need to move, which made the process far more efficient.

From 2pm-4pm I then helped move beds  around from different wards so new patients would be in the right places. After a while this began to be quite physically challenging, but it was not a problem as other nurses were helping and it was really enjoyable working with the nurses on the wards. They were able to make laborious jobs such as moving beds a fun experience.

The first day in Frenchay Hospital, although  hard work, was one of the most fulfilling because I was really able to understand how important the hospital's role is. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, particularly coming to grips with how different roles such as nurses and doctors work in a hospital environment alongside physiotherapists. Due to the attitude of the people on the wards I have been inspired to work with this type positive attitude and bring a lively and joyful energy to a working hospital environment.