Patient’s Age: 90
Admission Date: 9/2/17
Admitted From: St. John’s Riverside Hospital
Discharge Date: 12/11/17
Discharged To: Home
Length of Stay: 100 days
Reason for Stay: Rehabilitation Post-Fracture
How did this patient hear about Sans Souci? Social Worker in Hospital
Details of Experience:
Ms. F. K. is a 90 year-old female admitted from St. John’s Riverside Hospital after undergoing orthopedic surgery as a result of sustaining a left femur fracture due to an unfortunate fall in her home. She also suffered a comminuted fracture (a fracture in more than two places of the bone) of her left humerus that, although it did not require surgical intervention, required extensive rehabilitation. Upon admission, F. required maximum assistance of two people for all activities of daily living (ADLs). In addition, she was in a lot of pain, and extremely fearful of falling, which contributed to her limitations of capability. The goals set upon admission were to incorporate physical and occupational therapy to address pain, and to enable her to continue her previous activities at home. F. enjoys cooking, baking and light gardening, and desired to be able to return home and do as much of what she was able to do previously.
Throughout the course of her rehabilitation program, F.’s therapist worked diligently to progressively build up her strength and capabilities, and she responded very well. One thing limiting her, however, was her fear of falling, and she was scared to walk using the rolling walker without her therapists assistance because of that. In order to enable her to progress further and gain independence, her therapist developed a strategy to help her overcome her fear. Each day, he devoted time to work on her ability to stand alone in the parallel bars, and as the days progressed, F. was able to stand, by herself, for a longer period of time than each previous day, and thus overcame her fear of falling. She built up the courage to believe in herself and utilize the skills she learned throughout her rehabilitation program, and she was able to start walking by herself using the walker, and increase her functional mobility.
As Ms. K. neared discharge, she had made much progress. She was able to walk more than 200 feet with a rolling walker, and contact guard assistance, which was an amazing improvement, considering her limited capabilities upon admission. She was also able to walk more than 10 steps independent of the rolling walker. With regard to her activities of daily living, she now requires minimum assistance. This would enable her to return home and resume her daily schedule, and spend her days doing what she enjoys! All of us here at Sans Souci were so excited to see her return home, and wish her only the best of health for the future!