Hi, All--
Quick update for today. Nothing too exciting happened today. Desiree and I had another day of Scripps training. This time it was for our specific hospital: Scripps, La Jolla. Learned basic things about the hospital, a tour, blah, blah. 8am-4:30pm. The last 2 hours was all about transferring patients. From the bed to the gurney, from the gurney to the bed, from the floor to the toilet. There were actually some pretty cool machines which we got to see and try out. There is the "Maximove"which was my favorite name. It looks like a mini hammock and is used to transport people who cannot move at all, or really large and in charge people. ;) The maximove is not to be used when patients are claustrophobic. I should have taken a picture. This portion of the orientation was a waste of time for us MTs because we will not be transferring patients.
Desiree and I planned our session with D. D is the client with Rett's. We will be going to D without the Senior interns present, so we are both excited! We will be using a ukulele, Q-chord, various percussion instruments, and a sound drum. Will let you know tomorrow how it goes! Wish us newbies luck!
Who will be the next American Idol? If you know me at all, you know that I am a big Idol fan. I only watched the first half because I had some work to get done, but will follow up with the rest tomorrow night.
No TERI, Inc. tomorrow because Teri, the MT there, is out of town in Kauai! I told her to have a blast since T and I honeymooned there. I will hear all about it next week.
This week is already going by faster...yay!
xoxo
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Every Little Thing's Gonna Be Alright
I made it to week two. 25 more weeks to go. Today started at 7:45 at the office. The seniors were preparing for the McDonald Center group that starts at 8:50am. The McDonald Center is a 28 day in-patient alcohol and drug addiction rehabilitation center. They are required to go to music therapy every Monday, attend counseling sessions, journal daily, and other things such as meditation. I was told that these patients will never miss their smoke break. ha. The session turned out great! There are four music therapy lesson plans for this group. Today's session was music therapy and creative arts (drawing/coloring). Session started with a relaxation exercise. I participated...we were supposed to visualize something (that represented the addiction) in one hand, and it was something heavy, weighing down on us. I visualized this teeny-tiny fire ball. I've been having a lot of tension in between my shoulders and viewed this fire ball as the tension I have been keeping there. In our other hand (which was my left hand) we were supposed to visualize something (that represented recovery) that was weightless, positive, etc. I visualized a pure heart. The clients then were supposed to draw what they visualized on a mandala. They had two, and they drew their addiction one first. They were given 12 minutes. Some clients used every second, while others were done in 2 minutes. The next mandala represented their road to recovery. After finishing the mandalas, each client shared what they saw in the relaxation exercise and how it was represented in their mandala. Some of the drawings weren't very sophisticated, but how they discussed what it meant to them and how the negative transformed into this positive was just stunning. The clients then compared each of their mandalas with the whole group--you should have seen all the similarities. Just amazing--every client, although a different addition, different story, and different life, had very similar thoughts, feelings, and emotions while drawing their mandalas. Mandalas represent the unconscious thoughts in a person. It was a very successful session and I really enjoyed observing and participating.
Next I went with Bahareh to a Parkinson's group. 7 men with Parkinson's come to this group that works with a Physical Therapist (PT) and Music Therapist (MT) simultaneously. MT's are supposed to support the PT and clients while doing stretching, exercising, and counting. Piano is used--it was interesting to watch Bahareh play the piano--all improv. When clients raise their arms, the music should get higher and when the arms are lowered, the music should lower as well. Very simplistic (makes sense, right), but very helpful to the clients. The last 15 min. is purely MT--sing a long, egg shakers for movement (fine and gross), articulating words for speaking, and just for enjoyment! Next week we are going to bring the tone chimes!
Monday's are the only day when Barbara comes to the office. She observes the McDonald session, leads the integrative session (which I will go to next Monday--we switch off every week), and then we eat lunch and discuss in detail the McDonald session. We also go over patient highlights and the schedule for the week. You should see the schedule...yikes. All color-coded and fancy schmancy. At about 3:30 we were done with symposium.
After that, I went with Stephanie to 4West. That is the 4th floor, West side of Scripps La Jolla. The floors are divided into 2 wings, East and West. Pretty self-explanatory. I'm starting to slowly learn my way around the hospital...the first floor and lower level are a bit confusing, but I've got the other floors down.
Stephanie and I went to see patient, R (using initials for confidentiality) who had a brain aneurysm and who is only 21, married, and his wife is expecting a baby. R was in the ICU for I think a month at least, and was just moved up to 4W. His brother-in-law and wife were present. R is paralyzed on his left side. He tries to move his fingers on his left hand, but is unable to as of right now. You can see his frustration in his eyes, but his wife keeps motivating him. We sang some songs while he drummed with a paddle drum and mallet using his right hand. His wife would fool with him and move the drum so he had to work at hitting it! :) He asked for Incubus and Stephanie sang "Drive", then Stephanie asked if he liked reggae. He said yes, so she sang "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley. I'd only heard the song once before, but tried to sing along. The chorus is very good and pertains to the issues that R has been facing. A nurse came to jam with us (R wanted this nurse to "jam" with us, so she did). AWESOME nurse. For the first time I saw joy in his eyes. At the chorus, the line "and every little thing's gonna be alright" repeats a few times, and it became very emotional. You could see R tear up a bit. We kept repeating that line and he grabbed for his wife to hug him. It was very emotional. From what I've heard, he has made huge improvements from the ICU and is improving everyday. Very, very rewarding to say the least. I had to hold back my own tears.
Left the office at about 5:20pm. Tomorrow will be another orientation at Scripps, La Jolla. 8am-3pm, followed by inventory. yippee. Hear my excitement?
Tomorrow is our 6 month anniversary!! Geeze--those 6 months of marriage have flown by! Right, honey?? Pure bliss. I am one lucky wifey :)
All my love.
xoxo
Next I went with Bahareh to a Parkinson's group. 7 men with Parkinson's come to this group that works with a Physical Therapist (PT) and Music Therapist (MT) simultaneously. MT's are supposed to support the PT and clients while doing stretching, exercising, and counting. Piano is used--it was interesting to watch Bahareh play the piano--all improv. When clients raise their arms, the music should get higher and when the arms are lowered, the music should lower as well. Very simplistic (makes sense, right), but very helpful to the clients. The last 15 min. is purely MT--sing a long, egg shakers for movement (fine and gross), articulating words for speaking, and just for enjoyment! Next week we are going to bring the tone chimes!
Monday's are the only day when Barbara comes to the office. She observes the McDonald session, leads the integrative session (which I will go to next Monday--we switch off every week), and then we eat lunch and discuss in detail the McDonald session. We also go over patient highlights and the schedule for the week. You should see the schedule...yikes. All color-coded and fancy schmancy. At about 3:30 we were done with symposium.
After that, I went with Stephanie to 4West. That is the 4th floor, West side of Scripps La Jolla. The floors are divided into 2 wings, East and West. Pretty self-explanatory. I'm starting to slowly learn my way around the hospital...the first floor and lower level are a bit confusing, but I've got the other floors down.
Stephanie and I went to see patient, R (using initials for confidentiality) who had a brain aneurysm and who is only 21, married, and his wife is expecting a baby. R was in the ICU for I think a month at least, and was just moved up to 4W. His brother-in-law and wife were present. R is paralyzed on his left side. He tries to move his fingers on his left hand, but is unable to as of right now. You can see his frustration in his eyes, but his wife keeps motivating him. We sang some songs while he drummed with a paddle drum and mallet using his right hand. His wife would fool with him and move the drum so he had to work at hitting it! :) He asked for Incubus and Stephanie sang "Drive", then Stephanie asked if he liked reggae. He said yes, so she sang "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley. I'd only heard the song once before, but tried to sing along. The chorus is very good and pertains to the issues that R has been facing. A nurse came to jam with us (R wanted this nurse to "jam" with us, so she did). AWESOME nurse. For the first time I saw joy in his eyes. At the chorus, the line "and every little thing's gonna be alright" repeats a few times, and it became very emotional. You could see R tear up a bit. We kept repeating that line and he grabbed for his wife to hug him. It was very emotional. From what I've heard, he has made huge improvements from the ICU and is improving everyday. Very, very rewarding to say the least. I had to hold back my own tears.
Left the office at about 5:20pm. Tomorrow will be another orientation at Scripps, La Jolla. 8am-3pm, followed by inventory. yippee. Hear my excitement?
Tomorrow is our 6 month anniversary!! Geeze--those 6 months of marriage have flown by! Right, honey?? Pure bliss. I am one lucky wifey :)
All my love.
xoxo
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Thurs/Fri Update
So, I'm already behind, but have caught my family up this weekend with my new adventure. I already got harassed about eating too many snacks, saying I have long days and if I'm sleeping enough. I am fine, don't worry please. My snacks are healthy, my days are long to me because I haven't actually WORKED my entire life, and I sleep plenty. My mom says I need to say goodbye to naps. I will not...if I find time for a nap and need one, I will take one :)
Geeze, mom.
Moving on...Thursday started at Glenbrook, a senior living community with a hospice wing. We work 2 hours in Hospice. It is a 6 room, 12 bed facility. I shadowed Stephanie and Bahareh and saw three clients. What an experience. I think I will really enjoy my time at Hospice.
We saw a private client with Rett's syndrome. It is only found in women (because it is on the X chromosome) and is a degenerative disease. We will see this client twice a week.
Thursday ended with hospital floors. Stephanie and I saw a client who was in a motorcycle accident and had lost his right leg. The client played us a song that they had written. Music is very powerful.
Ronna welcomed me when I got home on Thursday night to delicious Mac and Cheese! Yummy! We wanted to watch Grey's Anatomy together but I guess it's not on yet..boo.
On Friday, Desiree and I had our orientation to the adult program at TERI, Inc. The adult program starts at 22 years old on upward. The facility is very nice with different classrooms such as art, wood shop, a nice outdoor area for playing, swinging, eating, and a huge gym for working out.
After visiting our private client, we ended Friday at the hospital. I shadowed Stephanie and we visited a client who has asceding paralysis. She is in a great deal of pain in her feet so we did a relaxation excerise using a Kalimba and a relaxational script. Stephanie did a great job and the client said "I feel much more relaxed" after the session. YAY! That is exactly the reaction we wanted. After learning how to chart and bill the hospital, it was time for home.
I met Erica and the triplets at Temple at around 7pm. There was traffic, of course, so I met them at temple as opposed to going home and driving with them. Kambria was singing in the girls choir. Zachary and Jason sat on each side of me and we had a front row seat to watch Kambria. Zach leaned in towards me and asked, "Have you ever been to temple?" I responded, yes. He then continued, "It's pretty boring, isn't it?" OH...the things kids say. I told him to "enjoy the music" and that he could rest his head on my shoulder. Kambria did a fantastic job and looked great in her favorite outfit! ;)
Saturday was an early morning, too. No sleeping in? Not until Sunday I suppose. Resounding Joy is a non-profit that Dr. Barbara Reuer founded. It provides music to the community, not necessarily music therapy, but more recreational, creative, and community-based music. All of us interns went to the Farmer's Market somewhere in San Diego and played a Drum Circle. It was for the kids. Some of the kids jumped right in and others were a little skeptical. All-in-all, it was a great jamming session and was fun. It wrapped at noon then we had to load all the instruments and drop them off at the office.
By 1pm, I was on my way home. It took me exactly an hour to get home from La Jolla...traffic was moving! Lucky me. This weekend has provided me the opportunity to take NAPS and sleep in. I have been practicing my guitar and have been playing the piano for enjoyment. Chris and Sara are watching the Packers. Grandma is here taking a nap. I must get the nap thing from Grandma. haha. It all makes sense now.
That's it for me...back to Carlsbad around 7ish, of course after a homemade dinner from mom and a visit with my in-laws! :)
xoxo
Geeze, mom.
Moving on...Thursday started at Glenbrook, a senior living community with a hospice wing. We work 2 hours in Hospice. It is a 6 room, 12 bed facility. I shadowed Stephanie and Bahareh and saw three clients. What an experience. I think I will really enjoy my time at Hospice.
We saw a private client with Rett's syndrome. It is only found in women (because it is on the X chromosome) and is a degenerative disease. We will see this client twice a week.
Thursday ended with hospital floors. Stephanie and I saw a client who was in a motorcycle accident and had lost his right leg. The client played us a song that they had written. Music is very powerful.
Ronna welcomed me when I got home on Thursday night to delicious Mac and Cheese! Yummy! We wanted to watch Grey's Anatomy together but I guess it's not on yet..boo.
On Friday, Desiree and I had our orientation to the adult program at TERI, Inc. The adult program starts at 22 years old on upward. The facility is very nice with different classrooms such as art, wood shop, a nice outdoor area for playing, swinging, eating, and a huge gym for working out.
After visiting our private client, we ended Friday at the hospital. I shadowed Stephanie and we visited a client who has asceding paralysis. She is in a great deal of pain in her feet so we did a relaxation excerise using a Kalimba and a relaxational script. Stephanie did a great job and the client said "I feel much more relaxed" after the session. YAY! That is exactly the reaction we wanted. After learning how to chart and bill the hospital, it was time for home.
I met Erica and the triplets at Temple at around 7pm. There was traffic, of course, so I met them at temple as opposed to going home and driving with them. Kambria was singing in the girls choir. Zachary and Jason sat on each side of me and we had a front row seat to watch Kambria. Zach leaned in towards me and asked, "Have you ever been to temple?" I responded, yes. He then continued, "It's pretty boring, isn't it?" OH...the things kids say. I told him to "enjoy the music" and that he could rest his head on my shoulder. Kambria did a fantastic job and looked great in her favorite outfit! ;)
Saturday was an early morning, too. No sleeping in? Not until Sunday I suppose. Resounding Joy is a non-profit that Dr. Barbara Reuer founded. It provides music to the community, not necessarily music therapy, but more recreational, creative, and community-based music. All of us interns went to the Farmer's Market somewhere in San Diego and played a Drum Circle. It was for the kids. Some of the kids jumped right in and others were a little skeptical. All-in-all, it was a great jamming session and was fun. It wrapped at noon then we had to load all the instruments and drop them off at the office.
By 1pm, I was on my way home. It took me exactly an hour to get home from La Jolla...traffic was moving! Lucky me. This weekend has provided me the opportunity to take NAPS and sleep in. I have been practicing my guitar and have been playing the piano for enjoyment. Chris and Sara are watching the Packers. Grandma is here taking a nap. I must get the nap thing from Grandma. haha. It all makes sense now.
That's it for me...back to Carlsbad around 7ish, of course after a homemade dinner from mom and a visit with my in-laws! :)
xoxo
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Nap, Anyone?
Today was our orientation at TERI, Inc. We met Terri, not to be confused with TERI, Inc. Terri is the music therapist hired as a private contractor. She goes to TERI 3 days a week from 9-2pm. Long days...I must say. [Mom--Terri reminds me of a mix between Heidi and Terri..haha] Any who, we observed Terri's sessions and asked a ton of questions. I will be working there on Wednesdays from 9-2pm in the Childrens Center. They also have a separate location strictly for adults with DD (Developmental Disabilities). One of the best part about the location of TERI is that it is only about 20 minutes away from where I am staying in Carlsbad, and it is north, meaning: NO TRAFFIC!
Here is a link to TERI, Inc.'s website so you can learn more about them.
http://www.teriinc.org/
After we left TERI, I went to Trader Joe's to pick up a few things for the rest of the week...I need more snacks to keep me going before and after lunch. Getting home around 3pm, I was ready for a nap! Geeze louise. I am already tired, but luckily not mentally strained. Probably not used to such long days and getting up so early. Back to the college days of naps (when I can fit them in) and staying up late and getting up early to finish up work.
Barbara requires us to complete 6 mandalas during the first month of our internship and several personality tests. Tonight I completed my first mandala and we could use whatever colors we wanted. I was stumped at first as what to draw, but just let the colors flow. I'm not sure what it quite represents but Barbara will (supposedly) use these mandalas to better understand our personalities. We shall see...
Here is a photo of my first mandala.
Tonight I will also be completing a series of personality tests and some other paperwork. Exciting, I know.
Here is a link to TERI, Inc.'s website so you can learn more about them.
http://www.teriinc.org/
After we left TERI, I went to Trader Joe's to pick up a few things for the rest of the week...I need more snacks to keep me going before and after lunch. Getting home around 3pm, I was ready for a nap! Geeze louise. I am already tired, but luckily not mentally strained. Probably not used to such long days and getting up so early. Back to the college days of naps (when I can fit them in) and staying up late and getting up early to finish up work.
Barbara requires us to complete 6 mandalas during the first month of our internship and several personality tests. Tonight I completed my first mandala and we could use whatever colors we wanted. I was stumped at first as what to draw, but just let the colors flow. I'm not sure what it quite represents but Barbara will (supposedly) use these mandalas to better understand our personalities. We shall see...
Here is a photo of my first mandala.
Tonight I will also be completing a series of personality tests and some other paperwork. Exciting, I know.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Interns Schminterns
Oh, the life of the "intern" has begun. Desiree, the other new junior intern, and I met our Senior interns. They are very nice and basically took us through our next 6 months. They talked about hours needed (1040 in 6 months), our daily schedules, office work, etc. etc. Basically, diarrhea of the mouth. Although there are tons of things to get done, start, and accomplish, I am not stressed yet. phew. Keyword: yet.
We toured the hospital with Barbara (our director), had a TB shot, blood test for MMR, and had lunch in the hospital cafeteria in about 1 hour flat. Then it was off to tour the hospital with the Seniors. We will be doing bedside work on floors 4, 6, 7, and the NICU. We were told about the East wing and West wing, the differences, how to figure which one is which, blah blah. The view from the 7th floor of Scripps La Jolla is beautiful.
Afterwards, Desiree and I had to start inventory of the office. A long and time-consuming process. While going through the books and manuals, I came across "Documents Schmocuments: If It's Not Documented, It Didn't Happen". Us MT's from Chapman can totally name the author. Right? I read the title and immediately thought of Dr. Luce--once looking down to find the author's name, I was right. Documentation in the MT profession is so important, for the title's reason exactly. MusicWorx has its own way to properly chart and document sessions--something else I will be learning.
It will probably take us at least 2-3 weeks to complete our inventory task. Once we finished, we left the office at approximately 4:40pm. When I hit the outside, for the first time in a while I took in the smells around me. The air was damp, almost ocean-like, and I could smell the trees. This was when I pinched myself. We live in a truly beautiful place. T, I love you but do not miss the bone-chilling cold weather of Cincy. ;)
Tomorrow, off to TERI, Inc. I will be working with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Orientation is Wed and Fri from 9am-2pm. Wish me luck.
xoxo
We toured the hospital with Barbara (our director), had a TB shot, blood test for MMR, and had lunch in the hospital cafeteria in about 1 hour flat. Then it was off to tour the hospital with the Seniors. We will be doing bedside work on floors 4, 6, 7, and the NICU. We were told about the East wing and West wing, the differences, how to figure which one is which, blah blah. The view from the 7th floor of Scripps La Jolla is beautiful.
Afterwards, Desiree and I had to start inventory of the office. A long and time-consuming process. While going through the books and manuals, I came across "Documents Schmocuments: If It's Not Documented, It Didn't Happen". Us MT's from Chapman can totally name the author. Right? I read the title and immediately thought of Dr. Luce--once looking down to find the author's name, I was right. Documentation in the MT profession is so important, for the title's reason exactly. MusicWorx has its own way to properly chart and document sessions--something else I will be learning.
It will probably take us at least 2-3 weeks to complete our inventory task. Once we finished, we left the office at approximately 4:40pm. When I hit the outside, for the first time in a while I took in the smells around me. The air was damp, almost ocean-like, and I could smell the trees. This was when I pinched myself. We live in a truly beautiful place. T, I love you but do not miss the bone-chilling cold weather of Cincy. ;)
Tomorrow, off to TERI, Inc. I will be working with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Orientation is Wed and Fri from 9am-2pm. Wish me luck.
xoxo
Monday, January 4, 2010
"Kids are dirt wrapped in noise"
I've never done a blog before, as you might eventually or very quickly notice. However, I thought it would be appropriate to start this as I go through this next, shall we say, "journey" through life. I have just moved to Carlsbad, CA for 6 months as I complete my undergraduate degree from Chapman. This includes a 6 month music therapy internship and a board certification exam before I am given the title as Brianna Shaffer MT-BC (Music Therapist-Board Certified). I am currently living with T's cousin, Erica and her three kids, 7-year old triplets: Jason, Zachary, and Kambria.
Well, today was my first day at my new internship. MusicWorx of CA is a non-paid internship out of Scripps Hospital, La Jolla. Yup--I said it, non-paid. Yippee. I will probably do more work during these next 6 months than I did in my 4 years of college. But--even though I don't sound excited NOW, I really am--and am looking forward to gaining knowledge, friendships, and the ability to grow as a musician and as a therapist.
Here is the link to my internship :)
http://www.musicworxofcalifornia.com/
I will be working in the NICU, in a Drug/Alcohol Abuse Rehab Center, on the Scripps hospital floors, with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and hospice.
So...today we had training from 8am-3:30pm at Scripps. This was basic training for ANY new employee at Scripps (RNs, technicians, coordinators, etc). The presenters were personable and interesting. While learning to properly wash our hands, the main gal was going on and on about how important it is to wash properly, don't forget your thumbs, etc etc when she said, "kids are dirt wrapped in noise". bahaha. I found this really funny and very true. Living with 3, 7-year olds has ALREADY proved to be noisy and as I thought about this quote, I realized how many germs children can carry. With 6 months of tough work in front of me I thought, "oh geeze...I don't want to get sick". Long story short: wash your hands for at least 15 seconds with soap.
Amazingly, the food was delicious, service was great, and I got a re-usable Scripps green grocery bag. Wow, I know. I also stole some extra snackies for future days when I need an extra pick-me-up.
Tomorrow, Intern Office at 9am.
Well, today was my first day at my new internship. MusicWorx of CA is a non-paid internship out of Scripps Hospital, La Jolla. Yup--I said it, non-paid. Yippee. I will probably do more work during these next 6 months than I did in my 4 years of college. But--even though I don't sound excited NOW, I really am--and am looking forward to gaining knowledge, friendships, and the ability to grow as a musician and as a therapist.
Here is the link to my internship :)
http://www.musicworxofcalifornia.com/
I will be working in the NICU, in a Drug/Alcohol Abuse Rehab Center, on the Scripps hospital floors, with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and hospice.
So...today we had training from 8am-3:30pm at Scripps. This was basic training for ANY new employee at Scripps (RNs, technicians, coordinators, etc). The presenters were personable and interesting. While learning to properly wash our hands, the main gal was going on and on about how important it is to wash properly, don't forget your thumbs, etc etc when she said, "kids are dirt wrapped in noise". bahaha. I found this really funny and very true. Living with 3, 7-year olds has ALREADY proved to be noisy and as I thought about this quote, I realized how many germs children can carry. With 6 months of tough work in front of me I thought, "oh geeze...I don't want to get sick". Long story short: wash your hands for at least 15 seconds with soap.
Amazingly, the food was delicious, service was great, and I got a re-usable Scripps green grocery bag. Wow, I know. I also stole some extra snackies for future days when I need an extra pick-me-up.
Tomorrow, Intern Office at 9am.
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