On a paediatrics placement, i went with my supervisor to see a 2mth old girl who had been in hospital from birth due tummy problems. The infants social situation was horrilble to say the least. For various reasons the mother and family were rarely present which meant that this infant would spend a huge amount of the day on her back in the cot only being held when she needed changing or medical attention (try and picture this...its not nice!)
The plan was to see this infant regularly for developmental play. When I was playing with this baby i was fine, i really enjoyed it. It was only once i got home that i realised how much this infants situation had affected me. I was overwhelmingly sad that night and i decided to talk to my supervisor the next day.
I expressed the reasons for my sadness to my supervisor. My supervisor encouraged me and gave me some simple advice. Suprisingly i felt a lot better following our chat. I was able to treat/play with this baby without my sadness getting in the way.
I have definitely learnt the value of debriefing with colleagues when something challenging happens at work.
1 comment:
Thats a very sad situation and I could see how treating/playing with the child could easily get you emotionally attached, thats a very good point about debriefing it definately helps if you've got someone to talk to
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