What happened this week? 2/13/2017

On Tuesday, I worked in Cardiac Pulmonary Rehab. In this department, which is a "doctor's office" type setting, patients come in to work out while being monitored. Many patients in the Cardiac classes are recovering from heart attacks, blockages, have irregular arrhythmias, etc.. When they come into their scheduled class, they are hooked up to heart monitors and they begin their workouts. Most of the Pulmonary patients are suffering from COPD, Emphysema, etc.. These patients workout in order to make their home lives and daily activities easier. Both classes are monitored by a nurse and a Respiratory Therapist.  During their workouts, the staff constantly checks the patient's blood pressure, sugar, breathing, oxygen saturation and heart rate. Luckily for myself, I am able to assist monitoring the class. During the class, I am able to check patients' oxygen saturation and heart rate. I also ask them about their breathing and their physical response to the different exercises. The program is a wonderful opportunity for me to see a patient's diagnosis be treated from start to finish. I am able to see the same patients, a variety of ages, every week, which allows me to fully understand their health issues. This department has definitely sparked my interest in this specialty and I look forward to learning more about it.