Ron, I have maintained for years (since rotating thru acute care myself 10 years ago) that we are not doing oursleves any favors by trying so hard to maintain a strong presence in acute care as a profession. When we are there, the focus should definitley be, for those who can tolerate it, on getting people up and moving, in the context of daily occupations (so no rote exercises). For those sicker or more incapacitated, our role should be gentle introduction to ADL and recommendations for how OT might be helpful within the continuum of care (recs for inpatient rehab versus home care , for example). This opinion was met with total resistance from my acute care colleagues, many of whom practiced in a manner that was nearly indistinguishable from PT. At that time, most of the OT's I worked with hated acute care, and the 2 of the 3 who loved it had tried unsuccessfully to get into PT school (late 1980's) and went into OT instead because the waiting list for PT was too long. They often refused to adress basic ADL or self care and focused almost exclusivley on upper extremity PT. They argued for more OT staff because the "needs" were so great, but in reality had they truly practiced OT and addressed occupation instead of exercise, there would not have been as big of a need for OT in acute care, something that those hell bent on competing with PT did not want to admit...
Terrianne Ron Carson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I went on a PRN OT interview the other day. The position was for acute care weekend coverage. The person interviewing me worked in both outpatient and inpatient care. The OT duties for the acute care setting were explained something like this. We don't get people out of bed or work on mobility issues because this is what PT does. Basically what we do is address self-care issues such as dressing, bathing, etc. The is situation is both frustrating and confusing. Of course, I understand not wanting to duplicate services, but should OT be the profession getting people out of bed?? And, to continue with my "rant" about OT and UE, the outpatient side of the facility basically did UE rehab. If anyone on this list has acute care OT experience I would love to hear from you. And of course, other's opinion (including spouses :-)) are also welcome!! Thanks, Ron -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] ************************************************************************************** Enroll in Boston University's post-professional Master of Science for OTs Online. Gain the skills and credentials to propel your career. www.otdegree.com/otn ************************************************************************************** --------------------------------- Check out the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster. -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] ************************************************************************************** Enroll in Boston University's post-professional Master of Science for OTs Online. Gain the skills and credentials to propel your career. www.otdegree.com/otn **************************************************************************************
