Laura's Clinical Days (Days 5 & 6)

I spent day 5 and 6 on the Suchtmedizinische unit (addition). The people on this unit were typically addicted to drugs such as opioids The patient's on this unit ranged from the age of 19 to 50 years old. However, majority of the patients were males in their 20s. The unit has rooms set up like college dorm rooms. They have a kitchen, sitting room with a television and a game area that has a fooseball table. The rooms have big windows which allowed a lot of natural light. Day one started with PMU nursing student , Bernadette. We began the morning with me joining a nurse who did assessments and medication administration. Each patient had their blutdruck (blood pressure) checked. I learned patients experiencing drug withdrawal have high blood pressures after I was shocked to see a young man with a systolic blood pressure close to 200. Majority of the patients had the chief complaint of Schmerz (pain) in their chest and joints, all side effects of withdrawal from opioids. They took their medication after their assessment. Afterwards, the staff met for Frühstuck and handoff (can this be a thing in America?). We then met with the psychologist, nurse and patients in the therapieraum (Therapy Room). There, we introduced ourselves then played a concentration game concerning clapping. Patients had sport therapy on day 1. I watched as they warmed up and played volleyball for over an hour. It was amazing to see them all participate and work together. I learned quite a bit about substitution protocal. Many patients take substitutions for the rest of their life. This keeps them from taking the illegal drug and be a contributing member of society. We also discussed the treatment of symptoms during withdrawal, something I was exposed to during my psychiatric clinical. Managing symptoms are important, because it decreases the risk of the patient wanting to end withdrawl. During inpatient therapy, patients find other ways to ignore their cravings for the drug. This is done through ergotherapie, sport therapy, meditation and other activities of daily life. During the weekend, a nurse goes with some of the patients to the store so they can buy food then cook in the kitchen together. Patients cannot leave the floor without a nurse or healthcare worker. If they want the windows open to air our their room, they have to ask a nurse who unlocks the window then locks the room door. This is done so they cannot smuggle drugs into the unit.

On day 2, I worked alongside of Christine. I attended an ergotherapie session with the group. Ergotherapie was similar to art therapy. They worked on different arts and crafts including drawing, painting, and stone working. It was interesting to watch how focused they were on their projects. One patient had a hard time due to experiencing tremors in her hands due to her withdrawal. However, after talking with her, she tried incredibly hard to draw a horse and gave me the picture as a thank you. I talked about nursing care plans in Austria. The head nurse was kind enough to provide me with a care plan so I could compare it to the care plans I make in the US. I also attended a session with the group and a social worker. He discussed to the group about houses they could go to after discharge in order to continue their therapy and keep them from the enivronment that lead to their addictions. Many of them seemed very eager to learn about these houses. However, it was sad when I learned quite a few of the patients have been in suchtmedizinische before and the nurses expected they would return. Since many of them have to go back to their environment, they fall back into the cycle of their addiction. Another interesting topic I discussed with the staff was mental health of nurses in the psychiatric clinic. I was interested since it was topic brought up by our psychiatric intructor Ms.Forbus. I asked if there were any long-term effects of working in the psychiatric units. The workers felt there were not since they put a lot of emphasis on their own health. They feel they take time to give themselves a mental break. They felt since they all are able to take breaks and sit down and enjoy lunch and coffee, they do not feel as mentally and physically drained. They also loved where they work.

I felt incredibly lucky to be able to experience how addiction is treated in Austria. They stated addiction is a problem in Austria and they are trying very hard to combat it.