Hi guys
During the early post operative period, following heart surgery i have noticed many of the patients are quite unsteady on their feet even up to day 3 post op especially if they have had grafts taken from their legs. Quite commonly we give the patients a walking frame so that they are able to ambulate independantly, and start building up their endurance and strength again.This is especially the case if it is a friday and we want them to be independant over the weekend, to start rebuilding their endurance and strength. However with certain patients i feel this is an inappropriate choice as i have noticed many patients becoming dependant on the frame, and it becomes quite difficult to take it away. Some of these patients are only 47 yrs old so to me it seems quite ridiculous to allow them to use an aid for so long and in some instances even hire it to them to take home.
I have learnt from this situation that you have to be very careful who you decide to give a walking aid to in the post operative period. It is very important to consider the patients personality and ascertain whether you think they will be easy to wean of the aid as poor judgement can sometimes lead to the more elderley and anxious patients remaining on it. To help combat this situation i feel if you are going to give someone a frame, then everytime you go to see them you should be walking without the aid and providing standby assistance if they lack confidence and not allow them to talk their way into taking it with them.
I still feel there is an aprropriate place and situation to give someone a walking aid to facilitate the recovery process, however just be careful of certain patients and you will be able to pick this up quite quickly from your interaction with them, as you may prematurley have them using a walking aid on a daily basis.
1 comment:
I think that's a really good point, sometimes it's hard to judge whether a patient will become reliant on a walking aid or not, but hopefully this is something that will come with experience. I think it's also important to consider the patients pre-admission status and really make that your aim, but be prepared to make changes along the way if the patient is not able to return to the same level they were at prior to coming into hospital.
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