Keeping people safe and independent, and working with their strengths is Christy’s focus at Mary Potter Hospice.
Christy is an occupational therapist in the Hospices inpatient unit and is a new graduate in her first role.
Explaining her work she said “I usually get involved is if someone is going home [from the inpatient unit]. I make sure a person’s home environment is set up so they can be safe and as independent as they want to be.
“I’ll help with putting in equipment, making sure family members are trained how to use the equipment or how to move a person safely.”
Christy spends her days helping people to make the most of the strengths that they have.
“One person doesn’t have great leg strength but great upper body strength, so a wheelchair is perfect for him. We’ve been helping him learn to move from his bed to the chair safely.”
Christy appreciates the team approach at Mary Potter Hospice, especially as she is gaining experience and confidence. And it gives her the opportunity to work collegially to go above and beyond for all her patients.
“I can only do so much on my own. The team is very important. Depending on if they are a social worker, a nurse, a spiritual carer, they’ll see different things in a patient.
Christy says one situation stays with her where she was able to make a big difference to a patient.
“It was just before a public holiday and we had a patient who was desperate to go home to spend time with their family. I did a home visit to talk with the family and assess the house, particularly the bathroom and bedroom. Can they independently wash themselves, dress themselves, who would help? The equipment arrived the next day and I put it in for her so she could be home for the public holiday.”
Another part of Christy’s role is giving people things to do that they enjoy. “One lady enjoyed crafting and making things and she always wanted to know how to crochet. It was a quiet day on the ward so we sat down together and both learnt how to crochet. She was so bright and cheery when she left.”
Working at Mary Potter Hospice is different to any place she experienced in placements before graduating.
“Occupational therapy there is mainly around rehab and helping someone get better, but this is different. I have to look at the situation differently. I appreciate that I can be part of the snapshot of someone’s life.
“When I was a student, the tutor would always say ‘and everyone’s different’, and I used to laugh. But it’s true. There so many little details that make a person’s situation so different than everyone else.