Sunbelt Staffing » Therapy

Looking at Physical Therapy Work Environments

Howard Gerber — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:00:56 +0000

As a physical therapist, you have a variety of work environments from which to choose. If you want a traditional office setting, that is certainly one possibility, as about 60 percent of all physical therapist jobs are located in either the offices of a health practitioner or within a hospital. However, if you would rather work with a specific demographic or if you want to work outside of the box, that is also possible.

As previously mentioned, the most abundant job opportunities are those found in hospitals and doctor’s offices. In a hospital environment, you will be helping a variety of individuals with various conditions. Anyone who enters the hospital and has a need for physical therapy will be sent to you. One patient may be a stroke victim learning to walk again, and another might be an athlete who needs to regain the full range of motion in his throwing arm. Working in a hospital ensures you will never become bored because the types of patients will constantly be changing. Working in a doctor’s office is similar in that the types of injuries will vary, but they will be limited by the types of injuries the doctor specializes in. For example, if you are in the office of a doctor specializing in sports medicine, most of your patients will be athletes. If you work with a surgeon who specializes in knee repair or replacement, you will almost exclusively be working with knees. Which is more appealing to you? Working with a variety of patients and injuries or becoming an expert in a particular area?

What about those out of the box jobs? Well, you could work for a home health care company where you would be sent to each patient’s home. This would allow you to be constantly on the move, interact with new people, and minimize your hours inside one office. This is perfect for those who are happier when they are constantly doing new things in new places. If you want to focus on geriatric rehabilitation, you could work in a nursing home and help those patients retain or regain mobility. Perhaps you like children. You could contract with a school district or university to take care of the students on campus. With so many different types of injuries and patient demographics, it is possible to find both the environment and clientele that are just right for you, but you may have to travel outside of your immediate area. If you aren’t sure exactly which is right for you, becoming a traveling physical therapist would expose you to a variety of environments and allow you to determine which you prefer.

What is your ideal PT work environment? Do you want to work in a doctor’s office, a hospital, a residential facility, visit patients in their home, or work in a facility dedicated only to rehabilitation? If you are already working as a physical therapist, is the environment you are in the one you thought you would be in? How do you like it?

Looking at Physical Therapy Work Environments is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

COTA: Role of a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant

Angela Stevens — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:00:40 +0000

A certified occupational therapy assistant, more easily referred to as a COTA, plays an essential role in the field of occupational therapy. The COTA works directly with an occupational therapist in any number of settings including hospitals, clinics, schools, and treatment centers. Usually the COTA helps provide rehabilitation for patients who are suffering from a variety of medical problems. These problems may be physical, emotional, mental, or developmental depending on the type of facility the COTA is serving.

To become an occupational therapist assistant, you must receive and associate degree or certification from a special training program. While this is helpful and necessary, most training will occur on the job, as techniques and preferences vary depending on the occupational therapist the COTA will be working with.

Many of the schools I’m familiar with use COTAs to help fill the requirements of IEPs and 504 plans. Employing an occupational therapist can be quite expensive for a school district. Instead, they often have the occupational therapist go in and evaluate individual students and create a treatment plan for each student. A COTA will then go in and help students with the exercises or activities outlined by the occupational therapist. The COTA will also keep detailed records of each session and provide regular feed back to the occupational therapist. The occupational therapist can then schedule routine follow-ups to check on progress and make adjustments to the treatment plan as needed. This allows a small school district to utilize the services of one therapist throughout the county and minimize cost without appreciably affecting the care of the students.

In a hospital or center setting, the COTA will typically have more clerical duties in addition to assisting with therapy exercises, preparing therapy machines and areas, and working with the occupational therapist. He or she will often be required to answer the telephone, schedule appointments, maintain medical and office inventory, and possibly work with insurance companies and clients to help settle claims.

Regardless of the environment the COTA will be working in, several traits are necessary to succeed in this career. An assistant must be detail oriented, compassionate, able to precisely follow instructions, and have a great personality. The patients an occupational therapist, or their assistant, will be working with are often in some sort of pain or may find the sessions to be frustrating. It is important that the COTA be sensitive to that pain or frustration without allowing the patient to subvert his or her own treatment by not pushing themselves to their limit. This can be especially difficult for COTAs who work with children, in a school, or any other setting. Being able to walk the line between compassion and necessity is a skill learned on the job and not in a class.

What have you learned as a certified occupational therapy assistant that you never even thought of while in school or training?

COTA: Role of a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

5 Environments for a Physical Therapist

Angela Stevens — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:43 +0000

I am affectionately referred to by my friends and family as “coordination deficient.” My mom has even joked that my middle name should be “Grace,” just to be ironic. I have broken a finger, several toes, a wrist, and an ankle. Between car accidents, falls, and a variety of most improbable accidents, I have sprained just about everything that can be sprained. Because of this, I have come to know and love, or loathe, depending on how they are treating me, a variety of physical therapists. I think it is interesting that there are so many places this profession can thrive. I suppose I never really thought about where I was sent for my physical therapy until the time I was sent to a nursing home. Which brings me to five of the places a physical therapist can find a home.

Dedicated Physical Therapy Office

My first experience with a physical therapist was after a particularly nasty car accident, and I was sent to a physical therapy office. The entire area was filled with physical therapists and people recovering from a variety of injuries. At the time, I imagined this is the type of area all therapy would occur.

Doctor’s Office

My next appointment with a physical therapist was in my doctor’s office. My doctor had a physical therapist come into her office once a week to help patients develop routines to do at home. This time, I was there for exercises to help my carpal tunnel syndrome. It was quick and convenient, and I only had to follow up once.

Hospitals

I’ve never actually had physical therapy in a hospital setting. Luckily, most of my accidents thus far have been outpatient affairs; however, after my grandmother’s knee surgery, she had her physical therapy appointments in the hospital. First, she was seen and evaluated while still a patient and then she came back to the hospital’s physical therapy suite on a regular basis to continue her treatment. This was similar to the dedicated office I had experienced previously, yet they were readily available to hospital patients.

Nursing Homes

My wakeup call came when I fell, stepping off a curb of all things, and achieved a third degree sprain. That means I almost completely severed all of the stretchy hold together things in my ankle. Let’s just say that was more painful than the time I actually broke my ankle. As luck would have it, the only physical therapist in our town at the time was located in the nursing home. Apparently, many of the residents in the nursing home needed physical therapy and were unable to be transported long distances to receive it, so our local nursing home had a dedicated therapist and workout room. It was an interesting experience, and I can promise you that nothing will motivate you to work through the pain than seeing a 90-year-old woman who is less of a cry baby than you are.

Alternative Healthcare Offices

Finally, the chiropractor my husband sees just built a new office. He made sure there was room for a variety of services including a masseuse and physical therapist. When I asked why he was turning his bare bones, pardon the pun, business into a spa, he explained that many of his clients found him after accidents. Massage and physical therapy were often needed by these individuals and he wanted to provide all of the services in one location.

Do any of these locations sound like where you work, or have worked? Which was your favorite and why?

5 Environments for a Physical Therapist is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

What Does a Physical Therapist Assistant Do?

Angela Stevens — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:00:26 +0000

I am what some might call slightly-to-moderately accident prone. Okay, I admit it. I have had to go through numerous bouts of physical therapy for various accidents. It is not like I’m reckless, far from it actually. I am safety girl. I wear my seatbelt, look both ways when I cross the street… heck, I don’t even speed. But I swear I’m an accident magnet.

Which brings me back to physical therapy. I’ve never been to the same clinic twice, but I have noticed there are always physical therapy assistants floating around – often helping me, because I obviously need the help. At first I was a bit miffed that I wasn’t always getting the top dog physical therapist, but I eventually realized that a physical therapy assistant was pretty darn useful, too. So, what does a physical therapy assistant do?

First, physical therapy assistants do work directly under the supervision of a physical therapist. They are not the ones evaluating injuries or designing treatment. This means they are not usually the first person the patient deals with, as it is important for the therapist to both evaluate needs and formulate a treatment plan. However, the physical therapy assistant is able to carry out many of the tasks deemed necessary by the therapist. For example, I have had physical therapy assistants do everything from making sure I was performing my exercises correctly to performing therapeutic massages. They monitored how well I did during my session, documented it, and let the therapist know if I was right on course or if I was being a big baby about my treatment. No reason to get into the big baby bit, really. I will just say it is really hard to walk after having a third degree sprain. Okay, I might be a big baby, and I might feel just a tiny bit sorry for that particular assistant.

How do they learn to do what they do? Most physical therapy assistants have at least an associate’s degree or have graduated from an accredited program. Some programs are more extensive than others but most teach basic skills as well as offer clinical experience. Of course, once in a working environment, the assistant will learn even more from the physical therapist(s) he or she is assigned to. Most therapists have their own style and tend to shape their assistants into similar molds. This explains why some of the assistants I have worked with, or rather who worked on me, were like fairy godmothers and others were more like drill sergeants.

All in all, the role of a physical therapy assistant is to assist the physical therapist in the care of the patient. Offering the patient support and tough love as necessary in order to make sure the patient is able to regain maximum use of her ankle, or other damaged part, as soon as possible.

Just out of curiosity, if you are a physical therapy assistant, do you prefer the sweet loveable big baby patient or the hardcore make it hurt until I’m better patient?

What Does a Physical Therapist Assistant Do? is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

Understanding the Five Most Common Phobias

Angela Stevens — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:00:11 +0000

While there are literally hundreds of phobias that one may encounter while working in the field of therapy, there are some that are more common than others. A phobia is an intense, even disabling fear of something. Some of the symptoms of phobias include shortness of breath, dizziness, numbness, hot or cold flashes, sweating, nausea, trembling, and chest pain.

Fortunately, almost all people suffering from a phobia are able to find help with cognitive-behavioral therapy. The following phobias are some of the most common that I have seen, however, the ranking is not absolute.

The first two phobias fall into the class of animal phobias. Other common phobias associated with animals include the fear of dogs, rodents, or insects.

Arachnophobia – This phobia is so common there was even a movie made with the title. It goes far beyond the typical dislike for spiders, or wanting your husband to kill one instead of having to do it yourself. I don’t have arachnophobia, but I always try to pass spider removal on to someone else.

Ophidiophobia – While many people, myself included, have a strong aversion to snakes this phobia can cause people to have a strong reaction to simply seeing a snake. Pictures in movies or magazines may elicit a response even though there is absolutely no danger of the individual coming into contact with a specimen.

The next three phobias are situational phobias. This class has many high profile phobias including the fear of flying, dentists, and bridges.

Acrophobia – I have several friends who are very afraid of heights. They dislike tall buildings, bridges, and even ladders. They are not quite to the acrophobia stage, but for some it may develop into a full blown phobia without outside intervention.

Agoraphobia – This phobia is usually considered to be the fear of open spaces. Recent evidence, however, indicates that this may instead be a complication of undiagnosed panic attacks. The thought is that the people are so afraid of something in public, or out in the open, triggering a panic attack that they begin to fear those places.

Claustrophobia – This phobia is the opposite of agoraphobia, it is the fear of closed spaces. The degrees of severity for this phobia are varied. Some people cannot stand being in spaces that are even remotely small such as a closed closet or elevator.

For each patient the cause, treatment, and resolution will be different. It is often difficult for someone without a phobia to empathize with the truly overwhelming terror associated with having to deal with the object, or situation that triggers the phobia. The closest example I have been able to come up with is the moment you know an auto or airplane accident is about to occur, but there is nothing you can do to prevent it. The terror that one feels when something horrible and life threatening is happening to them and they have no control over it, is how the person dealing with a phobia feels each and every time they are confronted with the thing they fear.

Remember when dealing with phobia patients, that even if the thing they are afraid of can’t really hurt them, the fear they feel is no less dramatic than that of a driver facing a head on collision.

How do you explain the feelings associated with phobias to patients’ friends and families?

Understanding the Five Most Common Phobias is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

Anxiety Disorders: Help the Patient Understand it’s Not Their Fault

Anxiety Disorders: Help the Patient Understand it’s Not Their Fault

Angela Stevens — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:00:12 +0000

While working in the mental health field, I’ve met many people who suffered with some form of anxiety disorder. There are several types of anxiety disorders, and severity can range from mild to debilitating. Typically, by the time a person seeks help, the anxiety disorder is seriously affecting some portion of their life.

Most anxiety disorders can be broken down into a few broad categories, which include phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Within each of these categories, there are smaller subsections that specifically describe individual characteristics. As with many mental health conditions, it is difficult for both the patient and the patient’s friends and family to understand the disorder. It is important to help the patient understand the anxiety disorder is not their fault, and to help both them and their support network understand what the condition means to them.

One of the ways many patients realize they have an anxiety disorder is when there is no physical cause for the physical manifestations of their disorder. Many of the symptoms are consistent regardless of the specific disorder. Physical symptoms may include shortness of breath, increased perspiration, headaches, dizziness, and irregular heartbeat. Because these symptoms are much like those found in patients who are having a heart attack, a person may initially be taken to the hospital, believing this to be the cause.

A phobia is a fear cause by specific situations or objects. Situational phobias, such as being afraid of closed spaces or wide-open spaces, may limit a person’s ability to participate in daily life. The fear of closed spaces (claustrophobia) may make riding in elevators impossible, and the fear of open spaces (agoraphobia) may make it difficult or impossible for the patient to leave his or her home at all. Object phobias can range from animals to natural phenomena. There are hundreds of documented phobias, each one capable of causing a person serious distress.

Panic disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are both usually precipitated by an event in the patient’s life. The panic disorder is often brought on by a life event or persistent stressful situation, whereas post-traumatic stress disorder is usually caused by a specific event. People are most familiar with a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis in soldiers who have been in war or people who have lived through a traumatic even such as the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. However, many events and situations can create either disorder. The individual reaction to an event has more to do with developing an anxiety disorder than the event itself, which is why not all people who experience the same, or similar, event will develop an anxiety disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorders may not initially seem like anxiety disorders, however, when the patient tries to stop himself or herself from completing the targeted tasks, they will experience severe anxiety. These task are self-imposed and vary from person to person, however, each task must generally be repeated a certain number of times or be performed in an exact order.

The treatment for anxiety disorders varies depending on the type and severity of the disorder. Currently treatments can include behavioral therapy, medication, psychotherapy, or a combination of treatments.

Have you found there is more lingering prejudice against people with anxiety disorders as opposed to people suffering from other mental health problems?

Anxiety Disorders: Help the Patient Understand it’s Not Their Fault is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Angela Stevens — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:00:38 +0000

Working in the mental health industry, I have seen a variety of mental health disorders. For each disorder or condition there is usually one patient that epitomizes the condition for me. The person that best exemplifies narcissistic personality disorder is Violet.

Violet had many of the classic symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. Some of the symptoms included:

Believing one is better than others
Demanding constant attention and praise
Difficulty maintaining healthy relationships
Exaggerating talents and achievements
Fragile self-esteem
Inability to recognize other’s feelings
Jealousy of others
Manipulating and taking advantage of others

Violet had led a charmed narcissistic life in that her family always fed her need for attention and were willing to go along with her demands and inflated self-image. However, once she became older, she lost the core members of her family and had a more difficult time coping and maintaining a functional life. Her early childhood gives some clue as to the underlying root of the disorder. Many medical professionals believe that narcissistic personality disorder may be rooted in a childhood that included excessive pampering. However, there is also the possibility that, as with many other psychological illnesses ,the cause could be genetic or biological.

By the time Violet made it into my life, she had been misdiagnosed multiple times, possibly as a result of her manipulative behavior and need for attention. She had become accustomed to being entered into a hospital setting with new therapists and mental health care workers and being given the latest medication. Once she was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, however, it was made clear to her that she would not be given additional medications. The only treatment for this condition is psychotherapy.

Initially, she was unwilling to commit to the potential years of psychotherapy it can take to create positive results. Fortunately, she eventually realized this was a good way to get the help she needed and she helped create short and long-term goals with her treatment team. Her short term goals included improving her low self-esteem and the depression it caused. Her long-term goals included creating relationships that were not based on lies or manipulation. Happily, after several years of therapy, she was able to form a happy and healthy relationship and start a family of her own.

Watching her respond to her treatment in such a positive way helped me realize how much I loved my profession and gave me a newfound dedication to it. Has there been a person whose struggle inspired you to go into the mental health field?

Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

Anxiety Disorders: Help the Patient Understand it’s Not Their Fault

How Physical Therapist Can Help Kids with Physical Handicaps

Angela Stevens — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:00:05 +0000

As healthcare providers, we sometimes forget how hard it is for some of our patients to handle their physical handicaps. Children, especially, need supportive physical therapists at school, for a number of reasons. Taking steps to make sure the children you work with are comfortable with you will help them handle their condition at an important time in their lives.

Explain it to Others

Make sure the other children who interact with your patient on a regular basis are aware of the condition. If they don’t seem to notice anything is wrong, leave it that way. It’s when they start asking the child questions, or noticing the child gets treated differently—leaving class to visit you—that problems could arise for the child. To help counteract taunts and bullying, meet with the teachers to discuss ways to explain to the rest of the class about your patient’s disability in simple terms they can understand. It is helpful to explain to the other children what kids with your patient’s condition can do instead of focusing on what they can’t do.

Make Sure the Tools the Child Needs are Available

In spite on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1973, some facilities are not equipped to handle certain physical handicaps. Regardless of the specific disability, children should have everything they need to function properly while at school.

Wheel chair ramps should be available near all sets of stairs, and all doors should be easy to open – and open wide enough to accommodate the chairs. Make sure rails are available on all stairways. The rails should be sturdy and at a reasonable height for the children to reach. For children who cannot effectively climb stairs alone, but do not use a wheelchair, designate someone to assist them with each set of stairs, unless an elevator is available.

Talk to Them

Sometimes, talking to the children about their thoughts and feelings is the best form of help you can provide. Like a teacher, this child will turn to you when he or she needs something; and if it relates to the handicap, the child is more likely to approach you than their teacher. It is important to consider that not all children will want to openly discuss how they feel or focus on how their condition makes them different. Don’t force these conversations.

Make them Feel Normal

Though “normal” is completely subjective, young children will want to feel like the “normal” kids. Whenever possible, draw attention away from the condition itself. Help them find therapy exercises they can do that the other children do in regular physical education classes. Make the therapy sessions fun for the children however you can.

Being a school physical therapist can be a rewarding career, but it can be equally difficult to help children handle their physical handicaps in the educational setting. What advice do you have to share with other school therapists so they can help their students?

How Physical Therapist Can Help Kids with Physical Handicaps is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

Create a Safe Place for Clients in Therapy

Angela Stevens — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:00:24 +0000

Part of a successful client-patient relationship is to make therapy as successful as possible. That can be hard to do if certain pieces of the puzzle are missing. Regardless of the kind of therapy you provide for clients, they need to feel that they are in a safe environment; even if that safe place is mostly a mental state.

A person’s desire to feel safe in therapy is crucial to the success of the therapy and a natural need. As a therapist, it is your job to ensure that your clients feel safe and have a safe place to have a therapy session before beginning. Without safety in any therapy session, your client will not be able to work towards a successful recovery. Fortunately, you can help a client feel safe no matter where you are treating them.

If you are visiting your client for their therapy session, take note of the surroundings. Even if you’ve been there before, and things don’t look like they’ve been moved, it’s still a good idea to do a sweep of the area where therapy will take place. I know I’ve been in places that look the same as the last time I was there, but when I walk through the area again, some things have been moved. You want ample room for your client to move without fear of hurting themselves.

Talk your client through the therapy session before starting. Let them know what you’ll be working on that day. If there are changes in any therapy routines, make sure you demonstrate what you will be doing with them. If you can show them by doing the movements yourself, it may help to put them at ease.

Start slowly with the session. Give your client a chance to respond to the therapy before moving on to the next step. Remember, the therapy should not be at your pace – it should always be at the client’s pace.

Any form of physical therapy needs to have a clear plan on how you’ll work to make sure your clients are safe. You can also outline what you expect from them in regards to their safety during a therapy session. Encourage your clients to talk to you throughout each session to let you know what’s working and what’s not working. You can always change things later.

For a client who is receiving counseling, you can make them feel safe by explaining your guidelines. Let them know who will have access to their information. Many therapists have very clear cut forms that they hand out, dispelling any myths about what they do with the personal information that is shared. Let them know that they can express both positive and negative emotions without fear of judgment. A person’s mental safety is just as important as their physical safety.

During any therapy session, the burden of safety will most likely fall to you, the therapist, to make sure that everyone involved in the session is at their most comfortable and feels as though they are in a safe place. This is important in any therapy session in order for progress to be made.

Create a Safe Place for Clients in Therapy is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

Social Networking in the Travel Healthcare Industry

Angela Stevens — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:03 +0000

When you travel from location to location as part of your job, you may start to feel disconnected from those around you. If you’re like me, you want to be connected to something, if for no other reason than to know that other people understand where you’re coming from. Social networking can help you to meet other travel healthcare professionals, both online and in person.

Facebook

If you haven’t already been invited to join Facebook by half a dozen of your former classmates from high school and nursing school, you’re in the minority. Facebook isn’t specific to any particular industry or group. You can create a profile and connect with any number of people from your past by adding them as friends: elementary and high school friends, college and graduate school classmates, former coworkers, or even just fans of the same bands and movies you like.

I’ve gotten in touch with a number of people on Facebook that I hadn’t thought about in years. (Just wait until your birthday rolls around. It’s interesting to see who thinks to send you a happy birthday message. Some people care about you more than you might think!) I’ve even had a few job leads from Facebook friends I never would have thought to approach when I was looking for work.

Twitter

I love Twitter. Twitter is a cross between a chat room and a micro-blogging service that allows you to have conversations with people across the world in 140 characters or less. Each message you send is called a “tweet.” When you want to connect with someone on Twitter, you can follow them, and they can follow you back; this is much like when you add a friend on Facebook.

Unlike Facebook, you don’t get a big profile page; you only get 140 characters to create a bio. Twitter is mainly used to carry on conversations. You can search for and follow other people in your industry, and you can generally find someone online at any time of day or night when you want to talk, which is great for people who do shift work. You can use Twitter to tell people about your day, to share links to Web pages you find interesting, and find out what other people are talking about.

LinkedIn

To maintain your professional relationships, you’ll want to create a profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn serves as an online resume. Unlike traditional paper resumes, not only can you list your education and work experience, you can display recommendations from other LinkedIn users concerning your past employment. This can be very helpful, as you don’t need to track down references when applying for work; you can simply send them a LinkedIn recommendation request. Don’t forget to return the favor!

You can also join professional groups on LinkedIn. Search for groups related to your line of work, and you’ll be introduced with other professionals who you can share information with and maybe even learn about some job openings that might not be available to the public.

NurseLinkUp

Nurses have a social network of their very own called NurseLinkUp. Connect with other nurses to vent, commiserate, make career connections, or just socialize with. The community forum includes discussion topics like humor, activism, nursing technology, nursing gear, medication questions, case discussions, and more. It even has a section for nursing students. NurseLinkUp also has a presence on Facebook.

Be Responsible

No matter what social networking tools you decide to use, remember to use your judgment and act responsibly. The Internet has a long memory, and sharing scandalous spring break photos with your college friends on Facebook could cost you a job opportunity later on down the road when a potential new boss looks you up online. Likewise, be civil in your Twitter conversations. Debates can become heated, especially when conversations turn toward issues like religion and politics. You can participate in these discussions, but try to remain calm and objective. You don’t want to offend your followers, who could be people you have to work with each day, or people who might want to hire you tomorrow.

Like in grade school, remember to play well with others, and you should do fine. It’s great to get out there and meet new people in your field! While you’re building up your network of relationships, why not check out the job opportunities at Sunbelt Staffing?

Social Networking in the Travel Healthcare Industry is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing