Teamwork in the Hospital for the Patient

D e c e m b e r, 1964 P H Y S I O T H E R A P Y  Page 5

Extracts from papers read at the Symposium arranged by the S.A. Nursing Council, Johannesburg, in October

Practical Suggestions for Better Team Work
Each member of the team must be receptive and not 

r e s e n tfu l or suspicious or jealous of other team members. 
Each of us must continuously remind ourselves that we are 
all working for the patient.

Physiotherapist
When the physiotherapist reports redness of the skin 

and a tendency to break down, she is not criticising the 
nursing of that patient. We all know how quickly a pressure 
sore will develop in a paraplegic patient and how easily it 
can be prevented and how many unhappy wasted months 
in bed can result if it is not prevented. This and this only 
should be the reason why the physiotherapist approaches 
the nurse and why the nurse in turn co-operates—the welfare 
of a patient is at stake and the pride of individuals must 
take second place.

Co-operation on both sides is required as far as timing of 
treatments with applications of dressings goes. A good 
arrangement can be made that the nurse cleans the sores first 
thing in the morning and covers them with a sterile lotion 
cloth. Then the physiotherapist comes and applies her treat­
ment, replaces the cloth until the nurse returns to redress 
the wound. Ultra-violet Radiation and Ultra-sound for 
sores works best in combination with good nursing, thaf is 
the patient is kept dry and clean and pressure free day and 
night.

Pressure sores should not exist at all and with proper 
knowledge, co-ordination and supervision they can be 
avoided.

Liaison between doctors and auxiliaries through the 
ward sister should be so efficient as to make up for not going 
on ward rounds when this is impossible. The physiotherapist 
should lodge queries via the sister, who in turn can convey 
all relevant information to her. The sister, co-ordinator of 
the team must therefore have a full understanding and the 
work of all the auxiliaries—a no mean feat.

Ward classes, so valuable to the bed patient provide 
another example of co-operation between nursing and 
physiotherapy staff, because of the inevitable interruption 
of ward routine.

Plans for discharge of a patient should be conveyed well 
in advance to all team members so that the patient can 
receive instructions about home exercises, out-patient 
treatment, etc. After perhaps months of toil with one patient

it is so disheartening to find he is discharged with no prior 
warning or time for instruction.

The Nurse
Extracts from this paper will be published in the next 

issue, if possible.

Radiographer
The examination most frequently done in X-ray is investi­

gation of the lungs. After chest surgery the radiographer 
must take immediate X-rays to assess re-expansion of the 
lungs and, to assist continuity of the patient’s care, these 
X-rays are then shown as soon as possible to the physio­
therapist, who commences her treatment on these findings. 
It is necessary for the physiotherapist to know exact localities 
of lesions so that she may accurately drain the areas affected. 
It is therefore important that the X-ray results are conveyed 
to her immediately by the sister of the ward or through a 
note from the doctor on the bed letter.

When patients are sent in for X-ray of any sort it is 
important that the clothing and appliances worn should be 
able to be easily and quickly removed both for the success 
of the X-ray and the ease and comfort of the patient.

Occupational Therapist
Kinetic Occupational Therapy is the type of treatment 

usually given in the Occupational Therapy department and 
in this field physiotherapists and occupational therapists 
should give treatments which compliment each other. Where 
there is good liaison between these two members of the 
Paramedical staff patients receive most benefit from the 
treatments given.

Activities of Daily Living or A.D.L. often conveys no 
meaning to doctors, nurses and paramedical staff, and yet 
this is a very important part of occupational therapy. 
When a paraplegic patient becomes mobile and attends the 
A.D.L. Unit do not help him in the wards. The occu­
pational therapist spends hours teaching the paraplegic to 
manage without assistance and yet so often if she walks into 
the ward she finds the patient sitting back while the nurse 
assists him to dress or put on his calipers. Nurses and occu­
pational therapists can co-operate in such a way as to make 
the patient an independent person. This applies to the use of 
gadgets as well, designed in O.T. to assist patients in eating, 
dressing or any other activity of daily living.

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