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August 23, 2010

Staying Focused

I stumbled upon this little piece from Massage Today about remaining focused.

When you notice that you lose focus or drift, quietly bring yourself back to what you are doing.

Being present was a message that was repeated frequently in massage school -- not a word of which was mentioned while I've been in PT school. Maybe there is an assumption that remaining focused and present is a requirement of a physical therapist. But I see a lot of needless chatter about personal lives and favorite college football teams. However, we are working with people, and we need to find a way to engage them. creating a rapport encourages cooperation and can pave the way for educating people about their health while they're being treated, an important aspect of physical therapy.

As a student, the demands of the job and the environment make focus incredibly difficult. There are time management and safety issues to keep in mind. Circumstances occur that require changes in treatment plans, and everything we observe must be documented accurately. Therapy interruptions such as meetings, phone calls, and peer interactions must all be juggled without losing focus about what your patient is doing. Treating multiple patients at a time requires switching your focus, while maintaining attention on what your patient that is not being attended to directly is doing, such as poor exercise form. These things all become second nature with experience.

So in massage school, twice a week we were on the tables practicing new techniques in a quiet environment where presence and mindfullness were encouraged. In PT school, bright lights, circulating assistants and lots of conversation were the norm. In the clinic, wide open spaces make for lots of activity, noise, and distractions to both the patient and the therapist. The focus there becomes blocking out distractions from outside of ourselves AND inside our heads.

Posted by linda at August 23, 2010 8:19 AM