Educating Patients with Amputations
February 13, 2008
Aside from educating an amputee about phantom limb pain, what else do occupational therapists have to teach patients? The things I can think of are: skin checks, wound care, ace wrapping, and splint education. Anything else?
(My question refers to on top of the usual ADL training that we would do)
Entry Filed under: OT, Open Questions, Patient Education, acute care, amputations, occupational therapy, phys dys, treatment. .
5 Comments Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
1.
Kami | February 18, 2008 at 10:31 pm
I’m on my Level II clinical rotations and I currently have a patient with a finger amputation. What about psychological problems (such as denial and grief) that come with losing a digit or limb? Where does OT fit there?
2.
aishel | February 18, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Good question Kami. Other psychosocial issues can include issues with appearance and disfigurement. I think that as OTs, we have to try and prove to patients that with occupational adaptation, they can still be functional without that specific finger. I always like to say focus on the ‘ability part of ‘disability.’ We have to acknowledge their grief and validate their feelings, but we also have to show them that they can be functional. [/my two cents]
3.
Susanna T. | April 18, 2008 at 7:10 am
I am a student at a school for occupational therapy from germany. We recently talked about the treatment of amputees and our teacher told us about a book, in which there was a describtion of a funeral. It was the funeral of a leg, which a boy lost. He had the wish to burry his leg after he lost it so he had the chance to say goodbye. Most of the people do not get the time for saying googbye. Losing a part of the body is no less dramatic than losing a beloved person. As therapist, we should be aware of this and give amputees the possibility for mourning.
4.
aishel | April 27, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Susanna, that is a very touching story, thank you!
5.
Elizabeth Cook OTD, OTR/L | January 8, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Depending on the amputee and type of amputation, I talk about different terminal devices for sports, etc.
I also educate on pressure relief.