You meet so many people when you’re in hospital with your child. Who are they all? And what do they all do? In this series, we explore the roles you might come across in hospital and meet the humans behind them!
Children’s Physiotherapists support children and families across every ward in the hospital. We see preschool children, ensuring they have opportunities to play, which is crucial for their development. We understand that being hospitalised can be challenging, and parents might feel hesitant to let their child move without a doctor’s permission. That’s why we emphasize the importance of play and routine.
With older children and those with chronic conditions, We focus on maintaining their muscle and joint mobility to ensure they can play and get out of bed as soon as they’re ready. We promote activity and exercise throughout the day, helping to prevent issues like weakness or pain.
We help children on ventilators and on respiratory wards, assessing their chest conditions and assisting in clearing mucus (snot) to improve their breathing. Finally we help with neuro rehabilitation, we collaborate to help children regain lost abilities due to brain or nervous system damage from accidents, or illnesses like cancer.
I have been a Physiotherapist for 19 years, specialising in children for 16 of those years. For the past 11 years, I have been working at the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle, gaining experience across all aspects of Children’s Physiotherapy.
What do you do on a typical day?
We work with the other professionals on the ward to make a plan for who we need to see, we will then usually make a plan with each patient about which time would suit them to fit in with medical interventions and the child’s routines (as much as possible) sometimes we have a long term plan of times and days we see patients especially if they are in for some time.
Sessions are usually about 20 mins-1 hour long depending on what we are doing and we try to find out the child’s interests to incorporate play and fun as much as we can to make the session’s enjoyable. Families will also have a plan for doing other physio throughout the day this might be wearing splints or doing another play / programme with parents.
Our Patients are mostly stuck in their rooms due to being immunocompromised so coming up with games and activities they can do in this space is a challenge but that’s what makes the job so interesting.
What training is required for your role?
To become a Physiotherapist you need to complete a bachelor of science (three years) or a master of science degree (two years) at university, which can either be full time or you can also now work as a Physio assistant and apply to complete an apprenticeship.
What personal or other skills make a good children’s physiotherapist?
To be a good children’s Physio you need to be able to think outside the box. Children won’t do lists of exercises so often you have to think of games to get them to do the movement they need to practice.
You need to be a good communicator and have the ability to be a little silly, not take yourself too seriously, a good knowledge of nursery rhymes and the willingness to sing them at any given moment is also essential.
Why did you become a children’s physiotherapist?
I always knew I wanted to work with people and help them, so when I did work experience in a special school and saw all the fun things Physiotherapists got to do with children to make them better and I knew it is what I wanted to do.
What is the best/most rewarding thing about your role? What do you enjoy most?
Seeing patients improve and achieve their goals especially when you know they never thought they would get there. We get to see patients all the way from start to finish so you celebrate all the achievements with them and their families.
Share something parents might not know about your role.
A big part of our job is to empower and teach you and your child how to treat yourself. We all know knowledge is power so we want you to understand why you are doing what you have been asked to do then you’re more likely to want to do it.
What’s the one thing you want parents to know about your role?
Physiotherapy isn’t about a 20 min session once a day its part of your routine and is always better when it is slotted into your daily routine.
You can see more blogs from our Hospital Humans series on our website. We also have loads of information to guide you through a stay in hospital with your child, all created by parents who have been in hospital with their child. From admittance to discharge and everything in between, we’ve got you covered.
You can support the vital work we do by making a donation. Even a small amount can help us continue to help parents in hospital.
