Chairs, Stairs and Ramps: Part II
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a PT not writing a gait goal for a patient and me walking with them.
Apparently this was done to thwart the insurance company. Insurance companies are notorious for looking at gait goals and discharging a patient when the goal is met. The PT figured that if the patient didn't have a gait goal we could see the patient longer and work on static balance and leg strengthening.
My only question is whether this approach was beneficial for the patient.
And speaking of being beneficial with regard to patient care, I was told I overstepped my PTA role when I discussed with social services about discharging a patient. I am not allowed to discuss such planning with other departments even though the PT had already discussed it with me.
As a background, the social service person and I had worked together in a previous job and I often sat in her office to discuss the current patients and needs that the patients will require at discharge. She trusted me, and thus trusted the department in our collective decision making.
So now I am told I cannot do that anymore. Was this because the PT felt threatened?
My thoughts on it are this: If I am told by the PT that a patient is going to be discharged, I want to be assured that the patient is going to get all the equipment necessary prior to going home. Maybe the PT will do that on top of evaluations, supervision duties, meetings and, of course, 500-plus minutes of patient care.
It is strange how different PTs react to me. Another PT at the facility encouraged me to take the reigns because he was too busy to adequately make those decisions and I was the one who saw the patients most of the time. You would think if a PTA is the primary person seeing a patient they would know when it is time for discharge.
This situation reminds me of a saying in the nursing field: Do you want to talk to the doctor in charge or the nurse who knows what's going on?