tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79861699919631405.post404602559214633624..comments2023-04-27T07:10:29.869-04:00Comments on Bipolar and the City: What constitutes an Occupational Therapy Emergency? Jean Greyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13826037279061710386noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79861699919631405.post-48315827092772084132013-10-26T18:01:09.348-04:002013-10-26T18:01:09.348-04:00My worst emergency ever was being paged at 7 pm be...My worst emergency ever was being paged at 7 pm because a patient who had been sent to the ER after her thumb was caught in a hoyer lift and fractured was discharged back to the nursing home with no splint, no pain meds and an order for "OT to splint". She had end-stage dementia so I knew that anything complex was going to require a COTA to help me. I went in, grabbed a bunch of stuff I thought might get her through the night, had the nurse give me about 4 miles of roller guaze and the patient as much tylenol/ibuproferon/whatever possible and I made something that immobilized her hand for that night. It took hours because I didn't have appropriate stuff and the swelling kept making whatever I did require re-adjustment. I finally got it immobilized so that she was ok for the night, left a note for my supervisor that I would probably be with her for several hours that next day and that I had been at work for 4 hours that night and left. Because we weren't trained or equipped for acute splints it was a complicated process and until we ordered different splint material we were re-splinting nearly daily for pressure points. I was a new grad and I learned a LOT in those 2 months but I have never quite forgiven the ER doc who was not willing to put a cast on there.<br /><br />Negative feedback stinks and I think it's worse when you know it is valid but you cant do anything. I still sometimes will find myself bothered by things that came up when I worked and that's over 2 years ago now.Just Mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01085642883987294862noreply@blogger.com