Who's My Supervisor?
As I stand in "Helm's Deep" (the therapy department), I echo Theoden's words, "So it begins."
The therapist I normally work with was off for the day and I needed clarification about a patient. What do I do? Can I call any therapist who is licensed in my state and ask? According to state rules, I can. Some may argue the supervising therapist is the therapist who has done the evaluation; however, if a per-diem therapist did the eval on the weekend and is not available during the week when I need a question answered, where do I turn to?
Maybe my supervising therapist is the PT who happens to be in the building at the time, or the one I can get hold of by phone the fastest. State rules can be unclear about exactly who my supervising PT is. I know one state had a contract of sorts that listed one PT as the primary supervisor of the PTA. But how would that work with per-diem therapists coming and going so frequently in the facilities? Eventually the PT would be a supervisor for too many PTAs (which is against board regulations) and who would be able to keep track of it all?
I work closely with one PT but sometimes there are three PTs in the building that can give conflicting answers to my questions. Then what do I do? If it is a modality question, some PTs have specific parameters that they like and others do not want me to touch a modality even if it is in the POC. And what if I have a wound care question? Not every PT is comfortable with wound care and some have no idea about what to do, yet the PT is my supervisor, my leader in patient care.