Miscellaneous
Shelby Miller is a second-year DPT student who posed the question on Twitter “How do you respond to a patient who tells you they are ready to die?” Megan Eldridge, Sharon Gorman, Talia Pollok, and Julie Skzrat, all physical therapists who work and/ or teach in the acute care setting, responded by providing assistance and insight to Shelby on this topic. Shelby shared her experience responding to this patient’s question. Shelby as a second year PT student was finishing up her first full time clinical rotation in an acute care setting. Megan had a similar situation as a physical therapist new to the acute care setting and wanted to give Shelby insight from her experience. Megan also suggests looking into your hospital's protocols for these situations and looking at it from a multidisciplinary standpoint. Sharon put her professor hat on as this is an area she teaches at Samuel Merritt University. She recommends screening and referring for depression using two questions. The PHQ and the geriatic depression scale are two great resources to learn more about how your patients are feeling. Talia emphasizes for therapists to be prepared and aware these conversations will occur in any setting. She discussed the importance of maintaining resilience of therapists in these situations to prevent burn out. She believed physical therapists do play a role in end of life care. With extensive work in cardiopulmonary physical therapy, Julie encourages all therapists to be aware this is a conversation we will have more frequently due to our current environment with a global pandemic. She recommends therapists increase their understanding of positive intensive care syndrome to understand a patient's experience post-COVID. Other resources provided by the experts include PARTING SHOT 50:30 sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up - Talia For you today is ordinary, for you pariet is extra, be patient - Julie Remember to always listen to your patients - Megan Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes - Sharon Just because we are physical therapists, we don’t just treat the physical , we also treat the mental…. Listen again?? - Shelby