Bad patients are humans too

Hi everyone,
Just been treating a patient who just turned 18. She was admitted to the neurosurge ward after an accident following a hangover. She had a head injury - which involved the frontal lobe and the cerebellum. She is currently wheel-chair bound and requires 2* (A) to stand up.

She is known around the ward for swearing and shouting vulgar comments. Psychologists were particularly concerned and came frequently to the physiotherapy gym to understand her behaviour - whether it was because of the age - adolescence or due to the head injury. She was constantly talked about around the physiotherapy gym.

This made me anxious - how I will be able to interact with her in the first session. I was not sure how to build rapport with her.

However, the experience was very rewarding when my perceptions about this patient proved to be wrong. I was able to connect with her by her first name - her first name meant "Hope" in my language. When I said that to her - there came a very pretty smile.

I asked her about her family background and she told me how much she misses them.

Although, her behaviour has been unpredictable in the later sessions - (she did give me some vulgar signs during assessments ) - this patient is a young human too who has lost a very big part of her life (movements and physical independence as a young adult). With this knowledge and the experience in the first 2 sessions helped me to keep going with the assessments and treatments.

Sashi.