At work today another staff member cautioned me to wash my hands often, as there seemed to be a bug in the building. Back in school I remember the importance that was stressed with proper hand washing techniques, before and after treatment with each patient, before and after eating, and after any ADL's. As a teacher I remember teaching the ...

  Some time ago I wrote a blog about COTA salaries, and in it I mentioned that with the increased cost of schooling and decrease in salaries that soon we may see a shortage of people seeking to enter the field. Was that a bad prediction?   The cost of the two required years of OTA school can vary greatly. At the local community ...

  Just the other day I was talking with one of the nurses I work with, and we got into a discussion of wasted dollars in healthcare. One of the patients was upset because for three days in a row the lab nurse came to draw blood. Another patient was mad because they were being sent out to the hospital for a routine procedure that could have ...

  This is a topic I've covered before, but I've always wanted to show the emblem I was given after passing my national exam. It was actually enclosed in the envelope with my passing test results. My certification exam was completed under AOTCB (American Occupational Therapy Certification Board) which used to be a part of AOTA (American ...

  As a COTA you'll find some days can be a bit more stressful than others. I guess today was one of those days because I came home tired and frustrated, some from work, some from the drive home, some from a stop I had to make on the way home. Fortunately most days don't go like this. I really do enjoy being a COTA, but to let you know there ...

As we continue our journey into geriatrics a common theme among our literature is the Nations new focus on seniors ''aging in place.'' The new phenomenon is really just common sense to me, help senior stay in their home as long as possible safely. Whether it be adaptive equipment, construction changes, hired help, supervision or simply minor ...

As this quarter comes to a close we are preparing to have our lab practical this week. For the practical we have to randomly select an assessment perform it on the professor posing as a client then interpret the results and write a soap note. I worked in geriatrics for six years prior to admission to this program so I figured I would be reviewing ...

This quarter in school we are delving into the world of geriatrics. Our first assignment was to use the internet to find a statistic about our aging population. The statistic I found is that Americans’ longevity continues to increase, although life expectancy at age 65 in the United States is lower than that of other industrialized countries. ...

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. With the holiday over my stress level has increased. I picked up some extra hours for the month of July to cover a co-workers vacation and in two weeks I start back to school. With these new hours I am working in a new practice area. I am working in a long term care hospital, it is state ...