I was really excited to be attending electroconvulsive therapy, bright and early on Friday morning. We arrived in the procedure room around 0500, and introduced ourselves to the nurses, who were really nice, and very willing to teach us students. Our nurse Bette was really hilarious and a super awesome nurse, she first clarified with all the patient’s that it was alright for us to watch the procedures. I was able to watch on of the nurse’s start the patient’s IVs as they received some lactated ringers. I was also able to talk to a patient who was having her ECT done, this would be her 9th treatment. She has bipolar I disorder and has these extreme manic episodes, but fortunately since the treatments have started she has begun improving. After seeing the ECT I was assigned to be on the geriatric floor for the rest of the day. My classmates and I started off talking with patients and introducing ourselves before we went down and listened to FLASH at 0900. When FLASH finished we all headed back up to the Geri unit and participated in the patient’s group therapy sessions. We attended both the recreational therapy and other group therapy, it was a lot of fun. The recreational therapist even let us students participate by giving ideas for chair activities. I suggested trying arm circles, which everyone in the group participated in and then I had the group try some ankle circles. It was really fun, all the patient’s gave out ideas and everyone in the group tried them. After the recreational therapy another therapist came in and brought a Wii, so the patient’s got to do some Wii bowling. I worked with some of the patients on a puzzle, they were highly impressed by my puzzling skills. We finished out our day up on the floor doing activities with the patient’s before leaving Methodist.
My one of the highlights of the day was watching the ECT and being able to speak with the anesthesiologist. I asked her questions about some of the medications she gave, she was telling me why she gives things in a certain order, she also answered any other questions that I had. I appreciated talking to her because I do want to become a CRNA. The thing about ECT was that it was kind of strange watching someone seizing, even in a controlled situation and although they weren’t thrashing and foaming at the mouth, it’s a very interesting procedure to watch in my opinion. When I got up to the geri unit I had the opportunity to speak with a client whom had been receiving ECT for depression and unfortunately at the last treatment on Wednesday has suffered some memory loss. As I spoke with her and asked her questions she began remember more and more things, this reminded me that having a patient talk is very therapeutic, especially in this case where she has had some memory loss and is working through recovering it. I was also able to have some great discussions with another patient who had agoraphobia and bipolar I disorder. He was a very interesting care because he brought himself to the hospital. He was telling me about how he can recognize the signs and symptoms of when he is about to have a relapse in his therapy, by coming in before it got bad he saved himself from being stuck. This was very interesting to hear because it is true what they say about being able to manage mental illnesses, and this patient was the proof.
The patient, who has recently lost her memory, that I talked with was actually a retired trauma physician. When I was talking with her early on in our conversation I remember thinking ‘wow, this lady seems very well spoken and intelligent’, she then minutes later explained that she was a retired physician who has been living alone and just became extremely depressed, or that is what everyone has been telling her, she has no recollection of why she is there. I know that this must seem naïve and stereotypical, but a retired physician was not the kind of patient that I imagined seeing in a psychiatric facility. It just really emphasized to me that ANYONE can have a mental break, and each of us has our own threshold for “sanity”. The other patient I spoke in depth with was a professor at a university in San Antonio, he was also extremely well spoken and “with it”, for lack of a better word. His story of managing his agoraphobia revealed to me that through proper medication, management, and understanding of the mental illness, patients can go home and live a relatively normal life. For him the important things are recognizing when his agoraphobia has come back and being able to seek help. The think I did best today was talking with my patient and being able to help her recovery some of her memories. It just made me feel really good to be able to talk with her and have her say “oh yeah I am remembering something now about that…”, it made me feel like I truly made a difference.
I am going to always remember the important steps in recognizing ANY illness, whether its mental or physical. Early detection is key in both aspects of health, and I think a lot of patients don’t realize that. I will never forget the feelings I had when the patient’s told me what they did for a living and I was like “what??? seriously???”, mental health can affect anyone. Although we associate mental illness with a particular population and class of people, it can happen to anyone.