Day in the Life

A day in the life of... Each month... we talk to a different occupational therapist to see what a typical day is for them and explain a little more about their role. Turney Mike Turney Mike is an occupational therapist working with patients who have progressive or acquired neurological conditions through specialist neurological care provider PJ Care.

I’m an occupational therapist covering three care centres which are home to people with a range of progressive neurological conditions and acquired brain injuries. I’ve worked with PJ Care since qualifying in 2020. I already had experience of neurological care, having worked for several years as a healthcare assistant in homes caring for people with spinal injuries, dementia and challenging behaviours.

My day starts with a handover meeting with the multi-disciplinary therapy team. I get an update on any significant changes in the residents, hospital admissions and so on. I have a working case load, and while we have a number of residents who are with us for rehabilitation, the majority of my work is with permanent residents.

I create a framework of personcentred, therapeutic activities that are put into practice by our therapy technicians. Input into these frameworks can come from anyone – from the housekeeper to a member of the board. We’re a familyrun business, everyone knows the residents and notices things about them that can be hugely important in improving their wellbeing. I’m on the floor for the majority of the day. I might have a one-toone session with a resident or be overseeing a group session. Having an in-house therapy team is so beneficial - we can do joint sessions with the physiotherapist, for example, and because we’re both seeing the resident at the same time, we can develop a holistic care plan. Every Thursday we have a full MDT meeting. This can involve me, our technicians, speech therapist, physiotherapist, consultant clinical neuropsychologist, nurses – we can even create breakaway sessions for families to join. It’s an incredibly useful time and I think it makes for a better outcome for residents. I manage my own day so I work my breaks around the needs of the residents. The end of the day is for admin, including a communication diary so staff know of any changes or equipment that’s been arranged.

The relationships we build with the residents are the best and the hardest thing! They can be with us for a number of years. Some of them pass and others get to a point where they can go home. Either way, saying goodbye is never easy.

Seeing the transformation in residents, however small. People often come to us after five or six failed placements because other homes don’t have the time or skills to meet their needs.

For example, we have a gentleman who is diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome. We learned from his family that he hadn’t been outside for at least three years. He was stuck in bed and had appeared to have entirely lost his motivation. He’d been a farm worker used to building barns and our initial aim was to get him up and out of bed. I organised a bespoke wheelchair system to make the transition easier and the physiotherapist, the therapy technicians and I worked on getting him walking with support. He’s now able to get outside and has become an avid member of our gardening club because it gets him out in the fresh air. We’ve reignited his motivation. He smiles now, and as well as improving his quality of life, we’ve transformed things for his family, too. I also love the scope I have at PJ Care to put ideas into practice. There’s very little bureaucracy and that makes for a very creative and open working environment. If you’re motivated, the sky’s the limit!