PTA Blog Talk : Sports and Physical Fitness

My Shoes

Jason Marketti — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:46:00 GMT

I've tried wearing different brands and styles of shoes in the clinic that will protect my feet and stand up to the demands I place on them. Every single pair have split at the ball of the foot due to those demands. I hesitate to wear sport-type shoes...(read more)

Fun in Therapy

Jason Marketti — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:50:00 GMT

Therapy can be monotonous at times, especially if I'm seeing too many total joint replacements. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but going through the same routine every day can be a bit boring. I will try and break up the session of therapy and...(read more)

Who Directs Patient Care?

Jason Marketti — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 20:06:00 GMT

A while ago, a patient came into the facility and we were given two weeks to make the patient stronger and safer to go home. The two weeks was what the patient's insurance company authorized. Research shows that a person will need to increase caloric...(read more)

A Safe Environment

Jason Marketti — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:14:00 GMT

A therapist's gym is a multipurpose room not only for the staff but also patients. For the staff, it's used for in-services, luncheons and meetings. For the patients we see, the gym is used for exercises to get stronger, a place to encourage and become...(read more)

Training the Staff

Jason Marketti — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:16:00 GMT

As new nursing staff members begin to work, I will often introduce myself to them and explain that certain patients would need pain medication prior to therapy. One nurse I spoke with told me he had assessed pain on several people and they did not want...(read more)

Time Limitations

Jason Marketti — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 15:45:00 GMT

Let me vent about this whole system of seeing patients for a designated time in relation to reimbursements in a SNF setting. It does not work. If a patient comes in and is set at 720 minutes but we only see him for 700 minutes in the assessment reference...(read more)

Other Territory

Jason Marketti — Tue, 29 May 2012 19:13:00 GMT

I was treating a patient and we were alternating between LE and UE exercises. So we rested the legs and worked the arms. I instructed the patient to do "21"s (a fallback to my body-building days) and we really blasted those biceps. Then I was thinking...(read more)

On Duty

Jason Marketti — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:18:00 GMT

The police, fire department, EMTs and MDs are a few of the professionals that seem to be on duty all the time. In therapy, we are not and in most cases we do not make truly independent decisions. This might be due to the training and thought processing...(read more)

Patients My Dear

Jason Marketti — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:28:00 GMT

Everyone once in a while, we will see angry patients. It might be from the circumstances they are in, the bed, food or not being able to move about in familiar surroundings. Most of the time the anger is not because of us, but it can often be aimed at...(read more)

Co-Treating

Jason Marketti — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:37:00 GMT

The benefits of co-treating with another discipline (OTs and STs) will allow a patient to receive an intensive therapy session without getting so fatigued that he will not participate later in the day. Usually I am working on safety and static or dynamic...(read more)

Technology, Again

Jason Marketti — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:05:00 GMT

A while back, I wrote about how new technology is assisting with patients in the rehab field. I even thought about going back to school to learn more about engineering technology. Then I seriously thought about how this technology is changing the field...(read more)

Job Description?

Jason Marketti — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:23:00 GMT

As I was searching the Internet this weekend, I typed in "Physical Therapist Assistant." I came across some interesting descriptions of what I do, or at least what the websites think I do. The first site I came to after the search said, and I quote, "Physical...(read more)

Parsimonious Care

Jason Marketti — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:27:00 GMT

The American College of Physicians' ethical manual was recently in the news. The debate involved parsimonious care in the delivery of services. I can understand the debate and reasoning behind it but if those same manual writers visited a restaurant and...(read more)

One of Those Days

Jason Marketti — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:29:00 GMT

Every once in a while I am on my "A" game and can recall distant facts and functions of muscles and innervations that I learned way back in anatomy class as well as what my mother taught me growing up. Then there is today. I knocked on the door, introduced...(read more)

Twenty-Minute Workout

Jason Marketti — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:22:00 GMT

For years I have read about the benefits of a 20-minute workout. I have come across some studies that showed an improvement of strength, endurance and weight loss within six to eight weeks. If this is true, why do we schedule rehab patients for an hour...(read more)