My Pink Splint

Part of an OT's role is to make splints for various kinds of conditions. A splint, in a nutshell, is usually a plastic tailor made device that holds a part of the body in a particular position. At varsity we are trained to make these devices for hand conditions primarily. As with most teachings, at varsity you can only have so much practical training and most of your clinical experience takes place in the working environment. Here is one such learning moment:

Early in my community service I found myself alone in the department one afternoon. A patient came in with a peripheral nerve injury of the hand and desperately needed a resting splint. It is always helpful to have someone around to assist you when you are an inexperienced splinter but this afternoon I was alone and had no choice but to make the splint by myself. The only material we had available was pink perforated Aquaplast. This kind of material is usually used for children with small arms or finger splints but I had no choice... I had to use it.

The material was HORRIFIC it stretched beyond recognition and the webspace ended half way up my patient's arm. As I think about it now I'm not sure why the splint even had a webspace... It looked like a dog had it for breakfast. That splint became infamous in the OT department. Each time my patient came for a follow up appointment, the staff couldn't contain their laughter.

Did I mind? Not in the least! My patient, a sweet old man, treasured his pink splint. He wore it all the time because it kept his limb in a neutral position. If it was an exam I would have failed on the aesthetically pleasing part but I got an A-plus for client satisfaction. And in my eyes that's the most important part...

That's all.