Week Three

"Now that's what I call team work..."

January 20th, 2008 – January 26th, 2008

REFLECTION:

Floy warned me that this week we would be a having a very interesting Treatment Team Planning Meeting. She could not have been more correct in her warning. Today I was introduced to a very famous patient on the unit. (For confidentiality purposes, I have renamed him K*) As I walked into the report room to take a seat for the meeting, I looked around at the plethora of support persons all interested in the treatment and care of patient K. Just take a look at this roster:

• Dr. Helio Perez, MD (an expert in medicines of mental health)
• Medical Student #1
• Medical Student #2
• Kursar, the dietician
• Susan, the chaplain
• Michael Kura, from the psychology department, but currently filling in for a social worker on extended medical leave
• Med Nurse, RN
• Floor Nurse, RN
• Galean, the drug/alcohol counselor
• Floy Hodson, LSW
• Me, Social Work “Student Intern” (ß that’s what it says on my badge!

And that’s just the staff! Patient K also had some family members attend this meeting:

• Mom
• Aunt (mother’s sister)
• Uncle (mother’s brother-in-law)
• Grandfather (mother’s fater)

All of these people came together to sit around one table and discuss what is and isn’t working for patient K. The meeting opened with Dr. Perez asking K to introduce/explain himself, why he’s here, and what he needs from the treatment team.

K opened by unfolding and reading a small crumbled piece of paper he had previously scribbled on. In this letter, K expressed tremendous concerns about the medicines he was taking. He was fearful of permanent psychiatric damage, and went into great detail explaining his concerns. Dr. Perez thanked him when he finished, and jokingly stated that he would “put it in the box” where he kept a stack of letters almost identical to the first one, all authored by K.

We spent almost 30 minutes listening to K express his immense anxiety, fears, worries, frustrations… things started to get very repetitive. His family would interrupt him, telling him that he just worried way to much, and the staff agreed. This was a 21 year old, white male, with a very loving and supportive family. A little part inside of me just wanted to yell, “Whoa, chill out!” to this boy I saw sitting across from me. But I know his problems are deeper than that. I maintained good eye contact, and listened very attentively to what he was saying. At times, I felt like I was listening harder than anyone in the room… and then I realized why. Patient K has been a patient at Larue Carter for nearly two years now. Floy tells me each Treatment Team Planning Update meeting has been around these same fears and worries of patient K…

Patient K sounded almost hopeless by the end of this interview, but he was reminded today of what an awesome strength he has... SUPPORT. Above, I listed 15 people who are actively looking for any way they can be of help. I thought support like this was amazing, and I let patient K know it. :)

INTEGRATION QUESTION:

Policy/macro: What Indiana Bills & Resolutions for the Spring 08 Legislative Session are of interest to you personally? What Indiana Bills & Resolutions are of interest to you professionally? Describe their significance to you, your agency, & your clients.

Personally, I take interest in bills pertaining to issues such as womens health, education, health care (for all persons), mental illness and the mentally impared. As a female student born and raised in a very "medical" family (many relatives work in the hospital setting), these topics are of particular interest to me, and I have cared about many of these issues for years now.

After researching bills and resolutions that may be of particular interest to my future career in social work, I would still need to stay current with bills regarding mental health care. If I were to find a position at Larue Carter, or any other state agency, I would be very interested in learning more about House Bill 1095, which discusses living wage contracts for state agencies, as this bill could directly affect my earnings and wages. A similar bill, Senate Bill 0350, discusses funding for mental health centers- I think this one would be equally important to me as well.

One bill I need to study up on, which will directly impact my practicum would be House Bill 1266, which explains eligibility for medicaid, and seeks to set up priorities for services provided. I think this is very important, as two cases we are currently handling could have been done weeks ago, had the medicaid eligibitiy been cleared sooner.

Weekly Hours: 13
Hours to Date: 15