|
Karen Kohls -> Re: pros and cons of working in SNFas a P.T (August 5, 2004 6:29:00 PM)
|
Having worked acute care, SNF, Home Health, and pediatric postions, I assure you, bad therapists can be found in any setting. As a PT and consumer of PT services I've hunted hard to find good PT's in any setting I've sought services from, so please don't paint all SNF therapists as inept.
I wouldn't generally recommend new grads take a SNF position and most good managers don't generally hire them, unless you have a strong interest in this area because departments tend to be small and you may not have access to more experienced therapists to learn from.
Each setting has it's pros and cons. I've met very skilled SNF PT's - working to get a nearly deaf, hip fracture patient w/ cardiac, diabetes and dementia/post anesthesia issues back up on their feet to return home after they've flunked their acute care PT takes much more skill than getting the easy patient back up on their feet and can be very rewarding. My 4 year post CVA patient that just learned to toilet transfer herself required very skilled neuro re-ed to make that gain. Her more acute therapists had written her off. The look on her face when she did it made my day.
More importantly though, no one should work in a setting where they genuinely don't like the patients, so I would first ask you, "Do you like geriatric patients?" They are often complex, can be difficult to work with, and come with a lifetime of baggage, but YOU are often their last line of hope. If the therapists give up, they often have no one else to help them regain function, so they won't. They don't often have the freedom to shop for a new therapy team and you often can't send them to another therapist. Better salaries and more flexible hours won't make you like your job if you dislike the patients.
All SNF's are not alike - some function as acute rehab centers, taking patients w/ a high potential to return home and the services provided there are not unlike those that used to be provided in acute care settings 15 years ago when ortho patients stayed in the hospital long enough to gain some independence before d/c home. Other SNF's take much lower level patients. The experience working in each will be very different.
If you have an interest in geriatric rehab, I would suggest finding a therapist who is passionate about it and talking to them to see if it appeals to you.
Good luck in your decision making.
|
|
|
|