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RE: overqualified?
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RE: overqualified? - March 9, 2008 12:19:44 PM
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blast7
Posts: 101
Joined: July 28, 2005
Status: offline
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aph, I tried to PM you but it did not work so I will post here.
Typically I start out the day deciding which patients are appropriate for the PTA I work with. My typical caseload is 20-30 patients but I usually see 10-12 per day and not all patients are seen everyday.
Then I will prioritize which patients absolutely need to be seen that day and figure out who is lower priority.
Before seeing each patient I will check their lab values, any changes in medical status, and talk with any physician/nurse before seeing the patient if necessary. Sometimes these things will either make treatment contraindicated or modifiable.
Then I will treat the patients/eval them and report the status to nurses, care coordinators and social workers as necessary. Sometimes I need to contact the physician if something seems wrong or if they just want to know how the patient is doing.
Then throughout the day I may get no pages or several pages from nurses/MD's/family members to discuss a patient's functional status, dispo, and/or prognosis.
It is quite busy and I very much enjoy it at this time. I typically work on 3 main units but have opportunities to work in all units of the hospital. The hospital is a Level I trauma center with over 750 beds so I see some really cool stuff.
Let me know if there is anything else you need.
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RE: overqualified? - March 9, 2008 1:58:56 PM
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pdtoal
Posts: 22
Joined: September 13, 2007
Status: offline
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Blast7,
Do you ever have a nurse/MD, call or page you to "put a patient back into bed."
If so, how do you feel about that request?
_____________________________
Philip Toal PT, DPT
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RE: overqualified? - March 9, 2008 2:33:47 PM
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aph401
Posts: 82
Joined: April 16, 2007
Status: offline
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blast -
thanks so much for your response. i just realized that apparently i didn't have the box checked on my options to be able to receive PMs; i've fixed that. i am very excited about working in acute care when i graduate and it's encouraging to hear from people like you who work in acute care and love it. it's a refreshing change from my classmates and other PTs out in the field who talk about how much they hate the hospital setting and hated the clinical rotation they were required to do there. i can't wait to get a real job!
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RE: overqualified? - March 9, 2008 4:44:54 PM
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jma
Posts: 2312
Joined: August 24, 2000
From: NY
Status: offline
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Not everyone can use all the skills they learned at school in a particular setting.
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RE: overqualified? - March 9, 2008 10:59:18 PM
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blast7
Posts: 101
Joined: July 28, 2005
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: pdtoal
Blast7,
Do you ever have a nurse/MD, call or page you to "put a patient back into bed."
If so, how do you feel about that request?
I've never had an MD call but I have had nurses many times. It is a time to educate them why I will not be back to "put them back into bed". If it is someone with a severe stroke, spinal cord injury or multi trauma and the patient requires significant skill then sometimes I do return to perform another session because I do not feel the nurses would be safe doing so. Sometimes I get paged, by the nurse, for a dependent person to get OOB to chair because the MD's order says so. I state to them that they are to use the hoyer and this is not skilled therapy.
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RE: overqualified? - March 11, 2008 8:36:40 AM
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jimptdpt
Posts: 29
Joined: December 1, 2003
From: Medway, Ma, usa
Status: offline
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I don't think our profession is becoming overqualified. I find some new and not so new PT's don't know enough to know that they don't know enough. I find the longer I practice and learn, the more I discover I don't know and that inspires me to learn more. When I was 17 I knew everything. I must have forgotten a few things along the way, because I feel I know less know than before. Time and experience teaches us those lessons.
Jim
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RE: overqualified? - March 16, 2008 12:37:56 AM
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T_Thom
Posts: 59
Joined: December 25, 2007
Status: offline
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Yesterday, I received a call from an inpatient (acute care) therapist asking for help on a PT consultation from neurology to determine if cervical traction & outpatient PT was needed for a hospital patient. This patient was a middle-aged woman initially admitted to telemetry for left cervical, chest, and arm pain/paresthesias. Cardiac origin was ruled-out, and a cervical MRI was done showing right sided disc protrusion and lateral foraminal narrowing @ C6. The therapist was in a quandary because the patient was independent with all transfers and ambulation, and she hadn't done this type of evaluation in many years claiming “I don’t know where to start!” So, gladly, I walked her through the exam process, discovering the majority of the patient’s pain & sensory change was reproduced with palpation, and stretching of left pec. minor. Otherwise, her reflexes, strength, tone, balance, ROM (except L shoulder) all WNL. No bowel/bladder issues reported.
The best part was I think even the acute care therapist enjoyed being part of the process. Meanwhile, the overly stressed patient was confused at first because she had already been told she had arthritis in her neck giving her these problems and she may require neck surgery if conservative treatment didn’t help. After but after education, assistance with positioning, and a treatment plan, she was quite a bit more at ease.
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