Working in an acute care facility and in home health care is different in many aspects. Acute Care is provided to individuals who are admitted to a hospital for a short period of time. They can be treated for surgery, illness, accident, or be recovering from trauma. The main objective in acute care is to discharge the person as soon as they are medically stable. The other health care practitioners that I may be working with is MDs, physician assistants, RN’s, LPN’s, occupational therapist, social workers, and speech-language pathologists. An additional task that I may be involved with is reviewing the patient’s medical record prior to beginning the physical therapy interventions and maintaining responsibility of patient management. Home health
Observing therapy assistants in the field and seeing what they do in their jobs was an eye opener for me. Getting to experience on-the-job shadowing helped me to identify the roles of a therapy assistant better than reading or talking to people about the job description. First, I shadowed at Athletico Physical Therapy, an outpatient facility in Festus, MO. Paul Kohler is the Occupational/Hand Therapist that I shadowed during my experience. There were several different injuries that I saw, ranging from people with work related injuries to jamming fingers in machines. After observing Mr. Kohler throughout the day, I got to see him interact with patients and perform activities that helped his patients in their rehabilitation phase of recovery. He told me that the improvements he sees first hand from his patients is rewarding and he feels achieved when he sees patients make steady recoveries. From this experience, I also learned that occupational therapy offers a diverse number of avenues for employment. I was pleased to know that I can specialize in a specific area if I desire to do so in the
Acute care facilities provide treatment and care for patients with sudden or unexpected illnesses or injuries that may lead to death. Non-acute care facility includes home health care, long term care, residential care, hospice, extended care, rehabilitation, nursing home, adult day care, and geriatric care.
During the interview, the Physical Therapist I conferred with was very thorough and straightforward in his responses to the questions that were given. I decided to interview another one of my mother’s fellow co-workers, Mr. Stephen Chan, considering his new experiences in the Physical Therapy field. I met with Mr. Stephen Chan at the Kaiser Permanente Outpatient Orthopedic Clinic that is located in Union City. The essential subject matters that we discussed consisted of his Major and Minor in college, the Residency Program that he takes part in, variations of attitudes, and advantages in the workforce.
The job duties also vary from home healthcare situation to the next. Each patient receiving home healthcare differs in level of independence and cares required. Thus their job duties vary. Personally, the lady I take care of in a home healthcare situation requires many cares. She brushes her own teeth and stands on her own. However, she needs help with her daily cares and transferring. I cook, clean, and do her laundry. This is the typical situation of many home healthcare jobs. Some home healthcare aides transport the individual as well, in addition to doing their shopping.
Occupation is defined as “activites of everyday life, names, organized and given meaning by individuals and a culture” (Association, 2006). This article also discusses the historical aspects of occupational therapy. Occupational therapy was founded by many different professionals with different backgrounds, that came together to share the same idea about how occupational therapy should be and the importance of activites for a person. This article also talks about different types of services that occupational therapy offers. Occupational therapists and assistances can work in many different settings. With the variety of settings a therapist and assistance can work in, the services that are offered there are different. Some different services that can be offered at these settings can include community mobility skills, stress management, alternative routines and habits, and more. It is important for therapists and assistances to know what settings offer what type of services when they are referencing their client to a new setting. The last topic this article discussed
...ve an accident to recovery from an injury. I would like to help these patients and see how they have progress throughout the treatment. I discovered from this health field that to be a physical therapist is very important because you have to deal not only with patients but also with different equipment that are required for some treatments. Also, Physical Therapy is a lifelong learning career. Every day we have change in
With all of the different specialties in healthcare, some get overlooked or may be under the radar. An uncommon and often disregarded career choice in healthcare is that of a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist or a Doctorate of Nurse Anesthesia Practice. Although not many people know about these healthcare careers, they play a vital role within the healthcare team. This field is growing rapidly and the likelihood of coming into contact with a nurse anesthetist during a hospital stay is on the rise. Knowing the history, education, responsibilities, and career outlook for a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist or a Doctorate of Nurse Anesthesia Practice can aide in understanding their very specific role in the care of patients.
They help them improve their movement and if necessary, help with the pain. “They are an important part of rehabilitation and treatment of patients with chronic conditions or injuries.” They spend a lot of time on their feet, actively working with patients. The following are some of the things that physical therapist typically do: diagnose patients by watching them stand or walk, they set up a plan for their patients, use exercises to help relieve them from any pain, evaluate the patient's progress and they educate their families about the problem. The work of a physical therapist varies on the the type of injury they are working with. For example, a patient that lost mobility due to Parkinson’s disease needs different type of attention as to an athlete recovering from a sprained ankle. This field has five areas: Orthopedic Physical Therapists which mainly focus o the function of the musculoskeletal system as well as sport injuries. Geriatric Physical Therapist are therapist that focus on older adults and work with conditions such as arthritis, cancer, joint replacement, balance disorders, etc. Neurological Physical Therapist focus on neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury, spinal cord injury and strokes. Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapist help people that struggle with cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions like heart attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary
Although there are some similarities between an ambulatory care and an acute care facility there is a difference among the skills needed to provide the level of care. When thinking about clinical care there is additional training and education that is needed for clinical staff members who transition between caring for patient within the two different settings. Ambulatory care is more outpatient setting including clinics that operate during the day treating non-emergent patients. Acute care is inpatient care provided at bed side because they require continuous care. Their work mainly driven by hospital protocols and physician orders (Swan, 2007).
The first acute care facility that I first visited was Adirondack Medical Center located at 2233 state Route 86 in New York City (Bruneau et al., 2007). The data that they deal with include the number of surgical diagnoses that occur in the acute care facility. The other challenge that they face is that which involves the relation of the charges that is charged in the care facility and the charges at the national level. The information on the number of patients that acquire nosocomial infections is also another type of data that the information management professionals encounters on the job.
I volunteered at a nursing home facility, Meadow View Nursing Home. At Meadow View a vast majority of these individuals are there for short and long-term care. The population was mostly elder patients. Patients are admitted to the nursing home usually after injury, surgery, or they need a place to stay at. While I volunteered, I was able to observe the physical therapist and occupational therapist and assist during therapy sessions. I assisted with some exercises and transporting the patient within the gym. Every therapy session was different because each session was specialized for each specific patient. Some patients needed weight bearing and non-weight bearing activities. Usually the therapist would continue the plan she had set for the
My current job requires me to assist a Physical Therapist in the treatment of children with developmental disorders. Currently, my title is physical therapist assistant with computer background. Working as a PTA does encompass mostly supporting and assisting role, however, more training and degree is required to be considered the primary decision maker as far as therapy treatment and evaluating patients is concerned. Occasionally, I do provide assistance to patients without the supervision of a Physical Therapist. In five to ten years, I plan to obtain my Bachelor’s degree in health care. Upon completion, to work as an Early Intervention Specialist (EIS) and design a system that will benefit children who needs advance therapy however, cannot afford the cost of treatment. Professional, I will be working as an EIS, while taking additional training and classes towards achieving my ultimate 10 years plan to become a Licensed Physical therapist with several practices
Physical therapy is a fun and exciting healthcare profession that helps people. It is all about helping other people who have problems with their body, muscles, joints and other parts of their body. Patients includes accident victims and individuals with disabling conditions such as low back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, and cerebral palsy. Physical therapy will perform an evaluation of your problem or difficulty. They evaluate your problem by performing tests and measures to assess the problem. These tests includes muscle strength, joint motion, sensory and neurological, coordination, balance, observation, palpation, flexibility, postural screening, movement analysis, and special tests are designed for a particular problem. Next, they develop a treatment plan and goals and then manage the appropriate treatment to aid in recovery of a problem or dysfunction. Physical therapists are able to treat their patients by using many different treatments depending on the type of injury. Some of the treatments are electrical stimulation, hot and cold packs, infrared and ultrasound to reduce swelling or relieve pain. These treatments are used to help decrease pain and increase movement and function. Therapeutic exercises instructions will help restore strength, movement, balance, or skill as a guide towards full functional recovery. Physical therapy provides "hands on techniques" like massage or joint mobilizations skills to restore joint motion or increase soft tissue flexibility. They will focus on basic skills such as getting out of bed, walking safely with crutches or a walker, moving specific joints and muscles of the body. Physical therapists treatment includes patient education to teach them how to deal with a current problem and how to prevent the problem in the future. Such documentation is used to track the patient's progress, and identify areas requiring more or less attention. They encourage patients to use their own muscles. Their main goal is to improve how an individual functions at work and home.
...guidelines and best practice protocols that we need to be familiar with, as well as of the various professional and regulatory systems, since physiotherapists are required to work in partnership with other health professionals.
Physical therapists are health care professionals that provide therapeutic services to their patients who have temporary or chronic physical conditions that were caused from injury or disease. Physical therapist also provided therapeutic services to patients after they have gone through surgery to help them gain back mobility and manage their pain. They can also work in preventive care by promoting healthy life styles and instructing individual patients or groups on preventing injury by using exercises that stretch and strengthen muscles. To help their patients try to recover they use massage techniques, wellness plans, and different types of equipment. When a physical therapist sees a patient for the very first time they must do an examination, evaluation, diagnosis, and then put together a physical intervention to start the rehabilitation process. They also work as a team with other health care professionals to help with their patients needs. Physical therapist can really make a difference in their patient’s lives by not only providing therapeutic services but also encouraging and motivating them so they can get better. The main goals of physical therapist are to help their patients retain or gain back lost physical mobility, eliminate or reduce pain, increase productivity and help promote a healthy life style so patients can have a better quality of life and become more independent.