Sometimes I get frustrated by a patient’s lack of motivation during the rehab process, which leaves me wondering why I seem to care more about their condition than they do themselves. What are the options? You educate, you demonstrate, you strike fear into their hearts, you cajole, you nag … but nothing much seems to sink in, and you know that the only exercise the patient will actually participate in is that performed under your watchful eye. Still, at the end of the day, you know that your patient has had good input and is on the path to recovery. But what do you do when patients are so overly motivated that they risk a positive long-term outcome by stressing their healing tissues beyond repair?
It’s always so difficult to restrain motivated patients from hurting themselves, especially when they are “best friends” with your favorite MD … but, to spare them from further harm, I find that sometimes I just have to risk being unpopular. Of course, I end up sounding like a prissy schoolmarm or fussy grandmother as I lecture such patients on the evils of spoiling their recovery in the name of Doing Too Much Too Soon, but I guess that’s the chance I have to take to keep them safe.
What are your experiences with impatient patients?
Anne Ahlman, MPT
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