I had my second rehab skill check yesterday. It involved vital signs and gait training. I was very nervous about taking vital signs, since I'd just learned how to take blood pressure, and I wasn't very good at it at first. But everything went really well. I was nervous because 3 of my classmates who went before me had to take blood pressure multiple times because they kept messing up. But I got it on the first try! I also had to demonstrate a gait pattern with an assistive device. My "patient" had a stroke, so I taught her how to use a hemicane and she ambulated a few steps.
By the way, I never expected PT terminology to become second nature so quickly, but now it's hard to use layman's terms to explain things to non-medical people. Here are just a few:
Ambulate= walk.
CVA= stroke.
Contractures= muscle tightening that can develop after a stroke.
Decubitus ulcers= bed sores.
Prone= lying on your stomach.
Supine= lying on your back.
On my last skill check, I told my patient to lie prone so that he could stretch out the contractures that had developed in his leg after an amputation. He looked at me like I was nuts.
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