Family Members

Hi guys. I have found throughout my placements - which have all been in hospital wards so far - that having family members in a room can affect the treatment that the patient receives. The majority of time the family are really helpful. They can be motivating for the patient, persuading them to do the treatment in spite of delirium or pain the patient may be experiencing, especially in the gerontololy placement where I am on at the moment where the sons and daughters often encourage their parents to 'go and work with the physio'. The family can also be very questioning about the patient's condition and treatment being received, and it is great to be able to answer some of these questions as the family will most likely be the ones re-explaining to the family member once they are out of hospital and back to their usual selves at home. However, I have found that sometimes the family present can be intimidating to the therapist. During this placement one day I had overheard a conversation, and after asking my supervisor I had found that the son of an elderly patient I was treating had rung up and verbally abused the doctors in charge of this lady, to the point that the doctor on the phone was quite upset. The next day when I went in to treat the lady the son was in the room with her. I was reluctant to treat with him in the room because I was worried that he would verbally abuse me, so I decided ot leave treating the woman until the son had left. My supervisor agreed with this. Luckily the son left about an hour before I was meant to leave so I managed to treat the lady. However I worry that if the son stayed all afternoon I may have not treated her at all because I was too scared of the son. In hindsight I should have just bitten the bullet and gone in but at the time I was really worried. Hopefully next time I will just have to remember that that patients treatment should take priority over my fear of the son and have a bit more strength!