October 1, 2009

• A day in the life……

  Of a brand spanking new Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant just one month into the job.

  7:00 Arrive at work.  Get PDA.

  

   Sign on to timecard.  Sync for new patient data. Then add/remove patients from the client list and upload to Services directory.

  7:10  Be in first patient’s room for morning ADLs (activities of daily living, i.e. washing, dressing).  Support and teach patient ways to wash and clean up independently.  This means spending about 50 minutes in a 7 foot square bathroom while the patient uses the toilet, disrobes night clothes, washes whole body, performs oral hygiene and then dresses for the day. This is all done while teaching the patient safe techniques and pacing/energy conservation so they can complete the tasks safely.

  8:10 Second patient’s room for ADLs.

  9:00 Bring two patients to the gym for overlapping time slot. Do different activities with each person.  Work with one on upper body strengthening so she/he can be stronger for using her walker and pushing herself out of chair and off bed for functional transfers.  Work with the second on standing tolerance teaching pacing and awareness of fatigue.

  10:00 Go to another patient’s room to discuss his prior level of home management before coming to the nursing home.  Engage patient in home management activities (take all of laundry out of drawers and closet and have patient fold items or put them on hangers and then carry to drawers or closet to put away) in room paying attention to post-surgical precautions, helping patient with precaution compliance, and teaching patient safe techniques for performing tasks.

  11:00 Lead therapy group for four patients. (Once a week.)  Focus group on common goal that all patients are working on. (Upper body strengthening, Standing tolerance, etc)

  11:30 Go to another patient’s room to work on upper extremity range of motion, ADLs, training with adaptive equipment (how to use a dressing stick to don underwear and pants, a sock aid to don socks)

   

  12:00 Lunch.  Sync morning data from PDA. Try to eat lunch, touch base with other therapists, catch up on notes.

  12:30 Tues/Thurs Rounds and Staff Meeting. MWF more patient care.

  1:15 Get a last few minutes in with a patient and/or make schedule for next day and mark on schedule board on rehab wing.

  1:30 (or 1:40 or on a bad day closer to 2) Check out on PDA time card, sync data, log off, plug PDA into dongle and place on charging rack. Go home.

  Now…in the in between times, I also have to write weekly progress notes for each patient, do discharge paperwork if patient is leaving, do paperwork and manage patient goals for patient in “Transition Room”, review evaluations, attend care conferences, check for notes in chart, and touch base with nurses, LNAs, dietician, Activities Director (not all the same day, but depending on patient needs of the day).

  Of course, I don’t even have a full caseload yet…..So, my schedule is actually “light” as compared to my colleagues!

   

   

  • 7:07 pm
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