Keeping Focus

On my paediatrics placement, I had the opportunity to work with several children aged between 5 and 12. I found the experience challenging and rewarding, and I constantly had to come up with new games. One child in particular, aged 5, would only partipate if the task was a game or 'fun' activity - often he would make them intricate!

During my second week, I came to watch the end of a treatment session he had with a second year physiotherapy student. I realised that while she was trying so hard to come up with fun activities and play the childs intricate games, she was sacrificing the actual purpose of the activity. She was concentrating so hard on the game that she wasn't noticing when the child was leaning on a chair the whole time instead of using his postural muscles to maintain 2pt positions, etc.

It was a great reminder to me that we need to step back at times and keep focused on our actual roles as physiotherapists, as well as having fun with paediatric patients! I think it made my future treatment sessions far more effective.