Neurorehabilitation ward rounds

The Neurorehab ward is different from most other hospital wards. You may recall from my Internal Medicine rotation in Nephrology and Hepatology, that the doctors, professors, and I did daily ward rounds, but in Neurorehabilitation, ward rounds are done once a week, on Thursday mornings with the entire Neurorehab team. The team includes the ward doctors, Consultants, Psychologists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech/Language Therapists, Nurses, and Social workers. 

Patients take weeks, months, even years, to recover from acute brain injuries. Some patients remain in the Neurorehabilitation ward for up to 6 months before they have made enough progress to be discharged home or to a care facility. Ward rounds are only done weekly because it allows time for the therapists to work with the patients and for changes to take place. The doctors (who I follow) are on the ward daily and can see the patients if there is an urgent matter. The Consultants come by from time to time and are only a call away if they are needed.   

This morning we started the ward round with the whole team on a video call. We went through each patient one by one and updated each other on the patient's progress over the last week. The patients are assigned to either the red or blue team, and one of the Consultants are in charge of caring for the red team and the other for the blue. We started with the patients of the red team and then finished with the patients of the blue team. The meeting lasted for hours. 

After the meeting, the Consultants came to the doctor's office on the ward. One of the therapists, one of the doctors, one of the consultants, and I did the ward rounds for the red team, while the other two doctors and the other Consultant saw the patients of the blue team.

It was past lunch by the time we finished. I rushed to have a bite to eat and then headed to the Clinical Neuroscience Center for a General Neurology Outpatient Clinic. The clinic wasn't very long and I could go home early. Overall, it was a good day.