First Impressions

Well, I just completed my fourth day as a Music Therapy Intern at Hospice of Palm Beach County and so far, I have enjoyed every minute! Monday morning I still managed to arrive five minutes early after hitting rush hour traffic and almost getting stuck at a railroad crossing, but now I know exactly how early to leave in order to avoid both obstacles. I met my supervisor in the lobby, had my badge made, and then spent the rest of the day in orientation where all the new hires including myself sat through OSHA, an introduction to the company, a lesson in HPBC technology, and an hour long class about Alzheimer's Disease.

Tuesday morning, I had an introduction to the music therapy department, and an overview of what to expect throughout my internship. After that, I drove down to Boynton Beach to shadow my Field Supervisor for the rest of the day. She drove me to a patient's house and it turns out that the patient's spouse had forgotten about music therapy and the patient was taking a nap so my supervisor had to reschedule the session. Instead, we drove to a skilled nursing facility and saw a patient there. The patient was agitated and engaging in a repetitive behavior that involved chewing of the lips. Throughout the session, the patient began to sing with the music and therefore momentarily stopped the behavior. The next and final visit of the day was at a patient's home who had Alzheimer's Disease. The patient was extremely confused, but still sang along with the music. The patient's spouse (who also exhibits signs of Dementia) was present during the session and my supervisor played some love songs for them, which the patient's spouse greatly enjoyed.

On Wednesday, I spent the morning taking a "Supportive Care Boot Camp" with my main supervisor. I learned about the Supportive Care department of HPBC which includes Social Workers, Chaplains, Music Therapists, Integrative Therapists, Bereavement Counselors, and Volunteers. The rest of the day, I observed a different music therapist (who was the most recent intern and is now working at HPBC). I got to see a patient who was minimally responsive and their family. The music therapist used music to provide spiritual support for the family. Next, we saw another patient who was in a great deal of pain and wound up putting that patient to sleep! Yay! We attempted to see two other patients, but were declined due to bad timing. We were heading back to the office to chart when the first patient's family stopped us in the hall and asked us to come back because more family was there and wanted to be a part of music therapy. We went back, but this time we took one of the Integrative Therapists (who is trained in massage and aromatherapy) and did a co-treatment with her. It was really neat to see the patient react to the smell, touch, and sound all at the same time even though the patient was minimally responsive. The patient made subtle movements such as eyebrow raises. After the session, I learned how to document the visit on the computer.

Today, I spent the entire morning in another technology orientation learning how to use the system that HPBC uses for patient records and charts. Then I had some time to practice guitar and do some reading/assignments.

Tomorrow, I have an evaluation in the morning. My supervisors will listen to me play guitar, keyboard, and sing and come up with a list of goals for me for the month. I will keep you all updated on how it goes!!

Hope you're enjoying reading my blog! :)