Allied Health

I am currently on my elective placement and spend a lot of time on the ward treating patients that have been admitted for various rheumatology conditions. From my time on the ward, I have found out the importance of communication with other allied professionals.

For one particular patient, she had been admitted for a rheumatoid arthritis flare and needed physiotherapy and hydrotherapy for her stay in hospital. Due to her complex social history, regular meeting were held to work out a plan for discharge for this patient. Before this placement, I had never been to a ward meeting or had liaised with the doctor to this extent. When there was a problem with the patient and I was needing some input, I found it very helpful to talk to the doctor or occupational therapy and listen to their view of the situation. It was good because it made me see how important physiotherapy input is and to see how the doctors, nurses and occupational therapist's respect your opinion.

Becoming more involved in the ward and taking responsibility of my patient make me realise that talking and seeking opinions from other professionals is very helpful when dealing with patients because if helps you see the situations from different views and most of the time they are happy to help out. This placement has been very helpful in showing the value of communication with other members of allied health. They are can help us in difficult situations or when we are unsure of anything because they can give their opinion and might be able to give a variety of approaches. In the future I will make sure I liaise with other professionals and I am grateful for the benefits from talking with them.