The hardest thing that I've faced in the PT program has not been the huge amount of info or schoolwork, but it has been to gain enough confidence to be able to comfortably talk to patients and how to be professional.
It's interesting how much of a difference the instructor makes. In my last placement, I felt totally overwhelmed, and was continuously criticized for things like how I dressed and how my hair looked (note it was -10 and february, so I definitely had bad hair days...)and how bad my charting was. This constant criticism did nothing for my confidence, I felt I knew nothing, was incompetent and this definitely affected the way I interacted with clients. I often stuttered, was incomprehendable, and the clients sensed that I was not confident, and therefore did not believe or trust me. Part of the problem was that the setting was above my knowledge base since we did not cover the unit yet, but the instructor did not make it easy.
This placement has been much better, even though it has been intense, the instructors do not criticize me, but actually support my learning and allow me to make small mistakes without it being a big deal. The biggest thing I've gained is confidence. I no longer have a high-pitched voice, no longer stutter, and patients are actually confident about the information I give them and even though I don't know a lot, I feel I'm actually starting to see patterns, and am doing things without getting prompted from the instructors. That's not to say, there are not things I'm frustrated with, the fact that I have 2 instructors, means I have to remember 2 different charting methods which is difficult. In addition, being on 4 different units is challenging since each unit is different in structure and pt population and having to flip that switch in my brain is sometimes difficult and exhausting but I'm fortunate to see so many different units.
What is professionalism? Well I've learned it refers to different patterns of behaviour in different settings. In my role as PT in an acute care hospital, I have to remember my own scope, time limitations, pt load, pt needs, as well as the role of others and balance all those expectations as best I can. even if I don't agree with something the care the pt is receiving or if the operation was even indicated, it is not my role to address those things, if I do it can create a very hostile working atmosphere and I still would not be able to change anything. How do I determine if a surgery complication was due to negligent error by the surgeon or a normal complication that can occur? I can't and even if I could would this help the person having to deal with this complication? probably not. Unfortunately, complications are part of the risk of surgery and they increase as a person's age increases.
Another thing I have to do is balance different needs of different patients and which ones are worth standing up for, this is probably a surprise to some but unfortunately with limited resources you can't fight for every patient since then you'll never win. Trying to fight with the doc that a pt is not ready to be discharge is difficult, so you have to choose your fights carefully. Also with limited time, you have to prioritize who get's to be seen and who doesn't need to be. In a perfect world, all pt would be able to have a long PT session but unfortunately then we'd have to work 24 hours a day. Finally being professional means leaving your problems, thoughts and feelings at the door and putting on a different hat and this is true for many different working environments since the pt and you should only focus on their own recovery, they don't need to hear problems in your life or what you think of their decisions, they want to get better and the best that you can do is educate them about how to make better future decisions but ultimately it's their life and it's up to them what they decide to do.
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