Occupational Therapy
18
Feb
2010
I'm a bad OT blogger
I've started cross training in vocational rehab which is like, I dunno, the epitome of OT, it's SO OT it hurts. It's awesome.
I also will be evaluating a burn victim soon and I am SCARED! Must. learn. asap. Am asking for advice and reading up etc, but wish I had some hands-on experience backing me up.
Am definitely going to AOTA conference, any of you readers going?! Meet-up time!!!! I promise I'm the biggest akwardest dork ever but I'm nice at least. Unless I'm stressed out and then I look a little blank.
So……um…….tommorrow will involve vocational rehab in morning, outpatient in afternoon…..
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1
3
Feb
2010
Need to update my sidebar with new OT blogs :)
Got a hilarious comment from a new OT student named Kimberly who called me her blogging idol! Flattery will get you everywhere….she requested I update my very old sidebar and I DEFINITELY NEED TO DO THIS ASAP, but for now, here is her blog! I just skimmed it and it had some neat stuff! Loved the picture of the beach wheelchair and how she got to give some lessons on what OT is in SPANISH to her temporary family in Costa Rica! I have to go read more soon but for now I better go prepare for a discharge! Enjoy!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 2
31
Jan
2010
how the OT time flies
I've blogged semi recently on OTconnections.org. Just got an e-mail from a new blog reader applying for an OTD program soon!
I am DEFINITELY going to AOTA conference! Well definitely is a strong word. Most likely. I would love to meet some bloggers and blog readers! Anyone interested?!! I need to see what CEU courses are going on, I really want to attend some stroke and ortho and possibly hands etc!!
I've been a PRACTICING LICENSED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST FOR FIVE MONTHS AS OF TOMMOROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 2
16
Jan
2010
"You're dealing with shapes, I'm dealing with pain"
There’s lady in inpatient rehab who presents very much like a TBI (traumatic brain injury). She has halting speech and she is very loud. Her cries of “I can’t, I can’t” ring through the air as she writhes on the mat. Her therapists basically have to follow her around on the mat, constantly cajoling and trying to help her. They end up in some pretty contorted positions but they’re very patient. She’s like a child in not understanding that the discomfort is necessary to help her get better or at least not get worse (i.e., contractures).
I’ve mostly just heard her say things like “I can’t, I can’t.” “Why are you doing this?!”, as I’m not usually over in inpatient so I haven’t heard her full repertoire, but the other day a friend told me something she said that really resonated with me, I keep thinking about it.
They were trying to have her in quadruped (all fours), placing shapes with one arm or something like that, probably working on a combination of strengthening, balance, cognition, who knows…anyway, my friend informs me she said, in her halting and loud speech,
“I don’t think you understand. You’re dealing with shapes. I’m dealing with pain.”
So maybe you have to see this lady to get the significance, but this woman is very limited in her speech, only able to get the essence of her thoughts out, at best. I thought that was very profound considering the level she was coming from. Also a very good reminder. When we as therapists are trying to get our patients (or clients or consumers lol) to do something to heal, we need to remember our patients are sometimes coming at the experience from a very different perspective. Even when we think we’re on the same page.
Something to keep in mind!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 4
8
Jan
2010
Yay for OT school
Hi UTHSC MOT Class of 20XX…..Neal informs me there may be some linkage so I guess I should pretend like I've been updating this regularly lately. Oops.
This has been a busy week for me (compared to past, as my caseload is building up). Wednesday I had over 6 hours of treatment…….I have a lot of patients with strokes, post polio syndrome, car accidents, hand injuries or problems like carpal tunnel, trigger finger, etc, etc.
Today I brought in some dice to work on wrist supination and ulnar/radial deviation…you know how men love dice. Haha.
When I look back at the beginning of OT school I WAS SO OVERWHELMED. It's going to be hard for a while, but i promise y'all can do it the same way my class and below me and below them etc did it! Just hang in there, it's semi fun I promise. 🙂 And one day you'll be throwing balls around and getting paid for it and so it's all so worth it…..hmmm. There's probably better reasons than that to love OT. But that's one of them definitely.
My archives – if you go wayyy back in time on the sidebar – start around second half of first semester OT school, so reading way back then is most applicable to y'all….my blog has struggled as of late, making transition to practitioner.
If any of you guys have any questions, thoughts, comments, fears, overwhelming desires to run away……share them. AND I PROMISE IT WILL BE OKAY.
WELCOME TO OT SCHOOL!!!!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1
31
Dec
2009
Throw the blog a bone…
I swear I have not forgotten your existence, oh bloggety blog. The real world isn't much fun – I much prefer the student world – but I do still love OT. I just wish I didn't have to go to work 40 hours a week, lol. I want to go back for my PhD in a few years I think.
I'm learning to think on my toes….sometimes I help out in inpatient and I get thrown things were I am like are you KIDDING ME? lol. But it's good pratice and everyne is helpful. I am just a cautious person! I'm still striving daily to be a FUNctional OT and not just a coney, but some days I definitely find it more difficult than others. I can't wait to get certified in modalities. It's not fun to go put an icepack in a pillowcase and wait for someone else to slap it on the pt when I know exactly what to do and just am not allowed to do it! I also would like to take a few basic neuro and ortho cases. I need to watch the PT do some shoulder stuff as well. I've got a lot to learn, yo.
I'm getting more comfortable with throwing words around like facilitation, neuromuscular re-education, PNF patterns, isometrics, blah blah blah….my school was really big on mental health and not so big on phys dys, so I feel I am very very weak in that area compared to a lot of peeps, but I learn day by day, and that's all I can ask really, is to keep learning! I bought the book Therapeutic Exercises by ummm….I forget who know, but i've talked about it before. And I am helping two friends study for the PT boards, lol….yes PT not OT. I bought the PT Exam book :X Because I get so tired of PTs talking about all this stuff I don't know about so I want to learn more about it! Distractions and oscillations and their anatomy is wayyyyyyyy better than mine.
I am so tired all the time – I don't have a lot of desire to write when I am home – too bad I can't blog from work and get paid for it, lol. Um….I love OT!
I have been playing on OTConnections slightly more. Good resource.
Okay more some other time, this was enough of a bone for now right? 🙂
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
16
Dec
2009
Preventing healthcare acquired infections like MRSA…
Barbara
Barbara Dunn has been e-mailing me about preventable infections – I need to check out the website for more information as it looks pretty interesting. One thing I always wonder about is the clipboards that get carried around everywhere! Check it out. 🙂
I'd like to inform you and the readers of Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) about how to protect patients and healthcare workers from the huge number of preventable infections people are catching in hospitals and other medical care facilities.
I've created a useful site that you're welcome to check out and take any resources from you like:
That site is a summary of a bigger effort by Kimberly-Clark Healthcare called “Not on My Watch” which is aimed at eliminating completely preventable healthcare acquired infections like MRSA and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Complete information about the “Not on My Watch” campaign can be found at www.haiwatch.com.
Please let me know if there are any questions I can answer for you.
—
Barbara Dunn
barbara@haiwatchnews.com
www.haiwatch.com
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1
1
Dec
2009
OT
My classmate Dori….(well one class below me) is doing an internship here….we were representin' at a sushi restaurant or Thai or something I think.
It KILLS ME KILLS KILLS ME KILLS ME I can't share specific stories….today I have some stories I'd really like to share!! ARGH!!! It hurts!! I guess I can say this much….I like to use rest breaks productively….for patients who are into self-expression I encourage them to bring in their stories, poems, pictures, scrapbooks, whatever it is they want to share about their life…. (this is especially interesting when working with victims of trauma) – so that during a rest break they can share…
My other goal is that the patient goes home and makes their family jealous of therapy because it's so awesome, haha. I don't have that hard of a time doing that with younger patients who need global training (like lots of deficits to work on). But when it's a patient with just a hand injury or something I find it harder to make it awesome even though I know, I know, a good OT would have no problems making that work. I wish I had an unlimited budget for craft supplies and stuff. Hmmm.
As a new occupational therapist (um I started Sept 1st so 3 months now!) it's so easy to feel utterly incompetent…but I'm sitting here doing adult outpatient physical dysfunction iin another state, whipping out 700s and learning more about the CRAPPINESS of insurance companies lol, and if I had been a student I would just now be done….so…I guess I need to be patient. I keep being told it takes a year, or five, ahaha, to feel okay…..
Hmmm
Better go prep for tomorrow…
I hope y'all had a nice Thanksgiving
PS I have 152 new mails to look at and over 200 to review/respond to, so um….yah 🙁
PS2 I need art ideas 🙂
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 3
26
Nov
2009
Martha Stewart blew my mind today, oh and Glee's handicapped episode
So this has nothing to do with OT but it struck me as really ironic.
I follow Martha Stewart on Twitter along with a bunch of other random peeps, and my Twitter came up and she had a few Tweets up and they all had no grammar, ie did not capitalize “i”, no periods, commas, etc. I was like…..Really? Am I the only one who finds that hilarious, considering she is known for her attention to detail???
Oh but by the way, to make this vaguely OT related, I am listening to “Defying Gravity” – I just watched my first episode of Glee, called “Wheels”, after I think it was announced in AOTA's minute or something. It was relatively well done, having all the glee club have to use wheelchairs for a few hours a day to know what one of their members had to go through daily – they used the term “handicapable” which I haven't seen before. And I loved the song Defying Gravity. So I downloaded it on iTunes. I recommend the show or at least that episode….I know there is probably some talk over on OT Connections about what people did and did not like about the show.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1
25
Nov
2009
booo
dang spambots with all their ads….gonna have to go back to moderating comments cuz of them! booo.
I'll try to post today!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none