Mary, the patient the study focuses on (surname withheld to uphold confidentiality), was chosen due to the writers involvement throughout the duration of her stay in hospital. The writer met Mary prior to her operation in theatre and was present for the duration of her operation. When Mary was admitted to ward L4 the writer was directly involved in Mary's care and discharge.
Mary is a 75 year old widowed lady. She is a devout Roman Catholic and attends church every Sunday. She is retired, during her working years used to work for a local catalogue company. She lives in a ground floor flat prior to admission she normally mobilised with a stick although she still enjoyed walking. She has one daughter who visits regularly on a weekly basis. She is a smoker and smokes twenty cigarettes per day for the past fifty years. Mary receives no home care input from social services and considered herself independent around the home prior to admission. She was admitted to hospital due to a fall at home, Mary had no previous history of falls. On investigation at hospital it was found that she had fractured her left Neck of Femur. Subsequently, this led to an operation in which a Thompson's Hemiarthroplasty was performed which involves a replacement of the Neck of Femur with a prosthesis. Following the surgery Mary's recovery was gradual, the members of the multi-disciplinary team, Mary and her family felt she would benefit from further rehabilitation consequently she was referred to ward L4. The ward is an orthopaedic rehabilitation unit which endeavours to promote a patients recovery, restore confidence and maximise their