How Much Are We Worth?
We do many things besides physical therapy in regard to patient care. We educate patients, praise them, discuss personal issues, make them laugh and fix their assistive devices so they work properly. In my estimation, we are worth about $420,000 a year depending on experience and work setting. This sounds like a lot of money but figure all that we do with patients and this is a fair estimate.
We are counselors ($50,000) for the patient, we address the psyche of some as amateur psychologists ($60,000), we mediate ($80,000) between the patient and nurses or the patient and family members, we coach ($60,000) the patients to practice and get better, we make them laugh ($35,000 as a clown), we engage them in activities to keep them busy and active ($35,000 as an activities director), we are shade tree mechanics ($30,000) to help fix their wheelchairs and devices, and in some capacities we are acting nurses ($70,000) when discussing medication management related to pain levels and dealing with personal care issues.
Plus we can add on our other interests that engage the patient to work harder for us and call it a bonus of $10,000 to $20,000 a year.