Hi all,
This week with my Clinical Tutor I was seeing a 13 month old boy who was referred because he wasn't sitting much independently and wasn't yet 4 pt crawling. He also had been diagnosed with a seizure disorder approx 6 months before, and is on medication for it. I (and my tutor) were expecting to see a kid who was not really moving much, possibly low tone. However, this was absolutely not the case. The child we saw was very active, he was 4 pt crawling (the referral was a month old, and in that month he had started 4 pt crawling). He went exploring all over the room, and quickly moved his attention from one thing to the next. Both my tutor and I were astounded at the difference between what we expected and what we saw. What I learnt from this is that even with a detailed referral, you cannot predict what a child or any other pt will be like. Sure, it's good to have an idea of what could be wrong with the pt in order to direct your attention to certain features that could affect assessment and treatment, but it is really important to keep an open mind and expect the unexpected!
1 comment:
Yes, referrals often don't give all the information that you really need, and at times I've found misleading. Whilst we always go into a room with a certain picture in our head of each patient, we need to remain open minded and listen to the patient and not always go by the referral.
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