MDT meeting

SENIOR CHARGE NURSE: 

Morning everyone. Overall, Deirdre is making good progress. However she can become very emotional, particularly when she is tired or when we struggle to understand what she is saying. We have looked out some information about the emotional impact of stroke and we are going to go through this with her today. She used the tablet computer to video call her daughter last night, rather than just using the phone. Deirdre said this made the conversation a little easier because her daughter could see her. I think it’s really important that we provide Deirdre with a quiet space to do this, which will help her to be understood. 

PHYSIOTHERAPIST: 

Deirdre’s goal is to walk from her bed space to the toilet and back, with the assistance of one person by the end of the week. We have noticed that when Deirdre is really concentrating, the drooling from her mouth can be really problematic and she does get embarrassed by it. She is happy for us to remind her to swallow her saliva when required. 

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST: 

Deirdre can dress herself with some assistance and she is now keen to work on applying her make-up and styling her hair. She is self-conscious of her facial droop and she feels being more independent with her appearance will help this. Deirdre’s goal is to return home. She lives on her own and so we plan to work jointly with the Speech and language therapist to practise compensatory strategies for speaking over the phone, to enable her to have a reliable means of seeking assistance and to ensure her communication is as effective as possible. 

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPIST: 

Deirdre is embarrassed and frustrated by her speech difficulties. Her goal is to have stronger and clearer speech and so we are targeting the volume of her voice and the sounds of her speech via regular exercises. She is also trying to adopt compensatory strategies such as taking her time, repeating her message if necessary and making sure she is facing someone directly when speaking to them. She is also willing to write down what she is saying if required or use text messages.