And That's How We Got Published.

Today I was in the stabilization area of rehab and it was pretty cool for a couple reasons.

Background on the unit: After patients have completed their stay in detox, they are strongly encouraged to join an inpatient stabilization program. Many patients take this advice, however some choose other stabilization programs for various reasons (cost, closer to their home, etc). In this particular unit, patients stay for about 14 days and begin the AA or NA 12-step process. Their days are filled with a lot of different group sessions and activities to help them evaluate ways to change their life but in a group, or milieu, setting where they can bond with others and form social networks that will help in the long-term success of their recovery.

The first and primary reason it was awesome was that about four of the patients I had worked with previously in detox had now made their way over to stabilization. The most touching of these was the gentleman I had worked with a lot last week (giving meds, the TB injection, and general care). When I last saw him he was very groggy from all the detox medications and was not fully aware of his surroundings. This week he was much more alert and seemed to be responding well to group therapy. A sad part of his story is that as he came out of detox they realized he might have more severe memory loss than that which is expected with substance abuse, so he will be going to the gero psych unit later to be tested for dementia. Overall though it was really nice to sit in on a couple group therapy sessions and see just how much better everyone was looking than the last time I saw them.

The second reason it was awesome is that I had my first moment of realizing that even as a student, we have the power to effect institutional change. One of the sessions today covered the symptoms of acute alcohol and narcotic withdrawal. A majority of the patients in this session were not aware of the continued symptoms, such as hallucinations and tremors, and were greatly relieved to know that what they were experiencing was normal for their situation and not a sign of additional psychiatric problems. After openly confessing what they had experienced, many of them realized that they were not the only ones going through these symptoms as they had previously thought. My partner and I had a lengthy talk about how horrible it would be to not understand why or be told what to expect of your recovery until this late into the program (about a week after finishing detox). After talking it over with our clinical instructor, the both of us decided to create a simple document that either the nurses or the counselors can hand out to the patients during detox. This way they a) know what to expect and for how long and b) have a hard copy that they can reference since memory retention is a problem for recovering addicts. My partner and I will have to present this to the head of detox and what not, so its not official yet. However it's really cool to know that the two of us will be creating a document that has a very high chance of being used in a hospital for years and years, especially since it would be impacting a unit that has a lot of room for growth towards more therapeutic and positive patient care. And that's how we got published!

Until next week!