Continuing Education links

I found a great post by OT in Egypt that has a huge number of links for continuing education credits, for those in need.

Here’s the link:

http://otegypt.blogspot.com/2008/01/occupational-therapy-continuing.html

Open Heart Surgery

I really want to see an open heart surgery. Until that happens, I’ll have to be happy with treating patients that have had open heart surgery; the most common of which I see is coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG).

Patients undergoing CABG usually have complicated heart problems and arteries that are blocked. The procedure basically reroutes some of the blood vessels, thus enabling better blood flow to the heart. Chest pain is also reduced.

As occupational therapists, one of the big things we do with open heart patients is review sternal precautions (I just wrote that paragraph on the precautions for this blog post – yay for Wikipedia!). It is amazing how people are so different in this area. For some people, after hearing the precautions once, they automatically start following the precautions with no difficulty. These patients tend to recover much more quickly than patients who do not (that isn’t scientific, just something I’ve picked up on. Then, there are patients who no matter how many times you go over the precautions, they still don’t follow them. It can be very frustrating at times.

While writing this, I was struck by an interesting thought. When working with hip replacements, I almost never have a problem with people not following their precautions. I have the most difficulty with sternal precautions. People with spinal precautions tend to be very good about their precautions, unless they’ve had a minor spinal surgery, such as a laminectomy. If I had to guess, I’d say the reason is that with hip and spine surgeries, doing the things that you’re not supposed to do directly impacts the joint/vertebrae, and is therefore a lot more painful, which is why they usually adhere to the precautions. However, with sternal precautions, patients do not necessarily feel anything wrong with what they are doing, so they’ll be more likely to not adhere to the precautions.

Addendum: Here is the paragraph I wrote on Wikipedia:

Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery will have to avoid certain things to avoid opening the incision. These are called sternal precautions. First, patients need to avoid using their arms excessively, such as pushing themselves out of a chair or reaching back before sitting down. To avoid this, patients are encouraged to build up momentum by rocking several times in their chair before standing up. Second, patients should avoid lifting anything in excess of 5-10 pounds. A gallon of milk weighs approximately 8.5 pounds, and is a good reference point for weight limitations. Finally, patients should avoid overhead activities with their hands, such as reaching for sweaters from the top shelf of a closet or reaching for plates or cups from the cupboard.