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Clinical Judgment and Lab Values
by Lisa West

Many times before a treatment session I will speak with the RN and discuss if the patient is appropriate for skilled therapy. Literally 99 percent of the time, the RN will say "Oh yes, please go get the patient out of bed." Occasionally a nurse will ask Read More...

136 views     0 comments »     

A Big Problem
by Lisa West

I had a patient on my schedule today who weighed, no exaggeration, 450 pounds. This woman had been bed-ridden for some time and was admitted to acute care for treatment of cellulitis. During a co-treatment with OT, we were able to mobilize this patient Read More...

343 views     3 comments »     

Patient Inconsistency
by Lisa West

On acute care, every day is different. There are days when my schedule works perfectly; other days, every patient is at a test or procedure, or refusing therapy. Likewise, there are days when my patient requires total assistance for mobility and the next Read More...

148 views     1 comments »     

Ignorance is Bliss
by Lisa West

I was working in the outpatient clinic last week and had an evaluation for a 43-year old woman for "Left Shoulder". I had no information other than those two words, which isn't terribly uncommon for the setting I am in. (This is a whole different discussion, Read More...

272 views     2 comments »     

Aphasia
by Lisa Catenacci

Alright, let's talk about how you handle non-verbal patients. I have twice experienced working with patients with expressive aphasia. The first patient, at my last clinical experience, was a recent CVA (within three weeks from the time he was admitted Read More...

311 views     2 comments »     

Support Groups
by Lisa Catenacci

Since I have been interning at this hospital, I've been involved with two support groups for our patients- the Amputation Support Group and the Stroke Support Group. Each group has a list of about 40 participants, and anywhere from 5-30 people show up Read More...

209 views     0 comments »     

Life in Rehab
by Lisa Catenacci

Well, I have one week of working in inpatient-rehab under my belt. It has been wonderful! I've seen a variety of pathologies--Parkinson's, hip fractures, stroke, along with many others. Challenges thus far: learning the computer system, documenting efficiently, Read More...

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