2000 Hours

Need good study review books that i will buy to pass the NPTA in FL. contact me at mbonilla5043@yahoo.com thanks! Interested in formming a group study in orlando area. p[lease email me.

I am licensed in NY however I have moved over 4 yrs ago to Florida. I just took my National PTA Exam and failed. I am very frustrated. Being out of school for over 10 yrs I used the Giles Review and purchased the PEAT. Unfortunately I still did not pass. Does anyone suggest a good review for PTA's for the NPTAE? I need serious help, I could of sworn I passed that test with flying colors and to my surprise, I did not. Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

Yes, this is correct. A PTA must have 2,000 hours of experience before they are able to practice without on-site supervision. I had a glitch with this rule, as well. I relocated from Florida which did not have this rule. However, I had to have a PT in Florida sign off on my 2,000 hours of experience before I could practice without on-site supervision in Nevada. Next glitch, I was working at a Kindred facility. A new grad was working at another location. Unfortunately, the PT supervisor of the new grad resigned (without notice). The company had to move me to the other facility and move the new grad to a facility with on-site supervision. Although I am allowed to practice without on-site supervision, I have to maintain a "supervising therapist" form with The Board. I graduated from St. Petersburg College in 2007. Our Program Director's mantra is "know your practice act". In Florida, in addition to the national exam we are required to take a Florida Rules & Regulations exam.

On a separate (but similar) note, The Board met on July 20 to adopt changes to the state practice act. You can check the Nevada State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners for further details.

You are correct.

According to the NV practice act if the PT is not on site with a new grad PTA the PTA would not be able to treat (They figured 2000 hours was one year as a FTE). Apparently this has been on the books for 20 years according to the state board.  Whether it is followed or not is another matter.  I was not able to locate any restrictions on a PT new grad in NV.  

Three months after graduation I moved to a less restrictive state and was able to do home health, school district, etc with the PT only a phone call away.

Just curious if I'm reading your quote correctly.  A PTA must have a PT onsite for supervision for the first 2000 hours after receiving their PTA license.  After that requirement is met, the PTA must still be supervised by a PT, but the PT does not have to be onsite.  So for the first 2000 hours the PTA in Nevada could not do home health.  That PTA could also not work in a nursing home if a PT was not at that nursing home.  Say if a nursing home had one PT and two PTAs...if the PT called in sick, the PTAs could not do patient care that day.  Is that correct?

Sometimes there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why a law exists.  Sometimes a law has been in existence so long that it just is...since noone has challenged it, everyone simply accepts it to be the way it has always been.  (In this case, I can't fathom a reason for this requirement, but people surprise me all the time!)

Did you ask the person to explain the rationale behind the requirement?  If he/she can't explain, you can keep asking for names until you find someone with the answer.  If you can't get an answer to that question, you may have the foundation for challenging it.

Well homehealth is the only setting I can think of that has a restrictbion, but nothing like what your are dealing with. I would be kinda aggravated with a 2000hr rule, do the new grad PTs have the same rule put on them, probably not.

Jason,

Having practiced in Nevada I can understand how you feel. However, I was an experience PTA when I applied for a license so this was not an issue for me. Nevada is different from other states in many ways. For example, there was a law that said that a PT had to personally introduce a PTA before they could treat them. Apparently, that wasn't happening very often and the state board eventually changed that in the physical therapy practice act.

All states are different with regards to the PTA practice. Congratulations on getting through the program. I guess one could say that now your real education will begins.

Bob