Life with a New PT Grad

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Life with a New PT Grad

Background in Physical Therapy by Lisa West: A friend of mine is an MD, and he often does other work using his MD education as a basis for other jobs. He serves as an "expert opinion" in some court trials, does consultation work for medicine companies, and teaches lectures occasionally. Although Read More...
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H1N1 Virus by Lisa West: Well, I hate to jump on the media wagon with more commentary about the H1N1 flu virus, but I'm wondering how other health care systems are tackling this nation-wide problem. I got the H1N1 flu shot today at work, but many of my coworkers are declining Read More...
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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...
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Mandatory Lunch Meetings by Lisa West: At our hospital, the baseline for productivity is 75 percent. In acute care this is attainable on most days, but on some days can be difficult. Other tests/procedures, medical hold due to unstable lab values, dialysis, and simple patient refusals often Read More...
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Perks of Being a New Hire by Lisa West: Last week I wrote a depressing blog about how awful the world is when you are a new hire, or a new grad. This week, I'd like to focus on all the reasons why it's so great to be a new hire. 1. I have lots of fresh ideas. Having recently graduated, I had Read More...
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Low Man on the Totem Pole by Lisa West: I'm a new hire, and a new grad on top of it. I try not to cross any lines at work. There are situations and policies I disagree with (strongly), but I bite my tongue and convince myself there will be a better time to voice my opinion. The people I work Read More...
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Isolation by Lisa West: In the acute-care hospital setting, words like MRSA, VRE and C-diff run wild. Many patients are in isolation, and many require specific sanitizations prior to and following patient interaction. Droplet isolation is, for the sake of argument, fairly easy Read More...
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Co-Treatments by Lisa West: So, the hospital I work at has a habit of doing a lot of co-evaluations and co-treatments between OTs and PTs, especially with patients who requires total or max assist. While I think it is good to work with other disciplines and have another set of hands, Read More...
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ICU and Oncology by Lisa West: So, this sassy therapist (me) has been getting into the hang of acute-care. I enjoy the challenges of fitting in a therapy session with a patient's busy schedule, I like the population I have been working with lately- mostly general medical, some low Read More...
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My First Paycheck by Lisa West: Here's a little list of things I am going to do, now that I have a paycheck: 1. Student loan payment; 2. Buy massive amounts of groceries; 3. Go to a Brewer's game; 4. Buy some work clothes! 5. Turn the lights on in my apartment, because I have money Read More...
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Pool Therapy and New Grads by Lisa West: I started work this week doing pool therapy/floating (NOT aquatic therapy)...it was a nice position that would give me some experience at the hospital before the residency begins in July. I would be able to jump between IP and OP. I have a few days off Read More...
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Last Clinical EVER by Lisa West: Well, it's basically over. Two more days of my last clinical as a PT student, and then I'm off for a 4-day solo drive home. My mother was kind enough to drive out here with me (we bopped along the whole way, singing at the top of our lungs and gasping Read More...
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Professionalism by Lisa Catenacci: Okay, kind of a controversial subject here. And, I will clear the air before I begin- I am not pointing fingers or even implying that the current staff I'm working with is guilty of such behavior. What I'm about to write is a compilation of many settings, Read More...
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Do Your Best by Lisa Catenacci: So, I realized something today at work- I have a tendency to get anxious and worked up about my documentation. Seriously, I stress out about it. I had THREE, count ‘em, THREE evaluations today - that's a lot for me. And, as I was in the middle of my second Read More...
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I Lost My Heart in Arizona by Lisa Catenacci: Week One: I am LOVING my last clinical here in Mesa, Arizona. My coworkers are fabulous- except the lack of GB Packer supports here (this is a joke). I'm in an OP-Neuro setting, and so far I've seen two SCI patients, many CVAs, and a muscular dystrophy, Read More...
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