Nlisdahl's Blog

Clinic Summary

nlisdahl — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 02:41:57 +0000

I have a lot more confidence in the treatments I have been doing. I think am strong on some areas and weak in others. I am strong with my ability to do the actual treatments. I know what I am doing in clinic and manage my time very well. I feel strongly that I can do various treatments on my own and do them well. I am improving on my documentation as well.

I think one of my weaknesses is involving the first year student with the treatments. I really enjoy working with the patients and need to include the first year student more in the treatment session. This is challenging for me to help the first year student understand the treatment when they don’t always understand the treatment.

I am very excited to get my career as a PTA started. I am very excited to start the internships as well. I want to get as much experience in many different areas as I can. I want to be a well-rounded PTA once I graduate and will continue to keep myself educated when I start my career. I plan to keep up on the most recent research and information related to my career. I will plan to attend conferences and educational opportunities to keep up on new treatments and research.

December 1st, Week 11

nlisdahl — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 23:44:52 +0000

My clinical instructor explained clearly about positioning our patient this week while stretching and doing exercises for her weak left hand. This helped us understand how to make the patient more comfortable and reduce the chance of further pain. This was very helpful for the first year student who was in clinic. I explained the treatment to the first year student as well.

I educated the first year student on our exercise and helped with any questions. I showed the student by demonstrating the proper way to do the exercise and clearly explained the different types of exercises. I also taught the first year student the right way to explain the treatment to the patient.

November 24th, Week 10

nlisdahl — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 02:44:32 +0000

I always use my transfer belt and assist the patient on their weak side. I am constantly asking the patient if they are tired or need to take a break. I do this frequently to reduce the risk of a fall. During gait exercises I use the transfer belt appropriately for my patient with loss of balance. I clearly explain the treatments to my patient so they understand what will occur and are prepared for the treatment or exercise. This also reduces the risk for injury.

We did not have any volunteers in the clinic this week. We have not had any volunteers this semester, but I was able to utilize them last semester.

November 17th, Week 9

nlisdahl — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 02:51:30 +0000

This week in clinic I had two patients. One of my patients I did strengthening for his right shoulder and worked on balance. He walked on the blue beam to improve his balance. He required maximum assistance to do this exercise. I judged him on how he did with the exercise and documented this. I did not have to talk to the PT about this patient.

My other patient had a difficult time reaching above 90 degrees due to shoulder pain. We did some home exercise programs with him and some strengthening exercises to increase his shoulder strength. I also was judging his status to see if the exercise was working and helping him to improve. I also talked with the PT about using a hot pack as this was not on hsi plan of care. I then used the hot pack for him.

I was always aware of the legal issues involved with my care and was sure to follow all ethical and legal standards involved with our clinic. I always kept everything within the standard for our clinic.

November 10th, Week 8

nlisdahl — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:50:03 +0000

It is nice to be back in the PTA room after the flood. We put all of the equipment back into the room. We practiced IFC and then did our IFC skills check. I think it is a good review for gait training. It was helpful to explain the gait and transfer skills checks to the first year students as well.

It will be nice to get back to treating patients. I am hoping next week we will do patient care again. Trying to learn everything I can before internships start next semester!

November 3, Week 7

nlisdahl — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 12:29:58 +0000

First year and second year students did skills checks this week. I think it is very helpful and a good review from the first year skills checks for the practical. It also helps the first year students with their skills checks. We didn’t have ICP last year and now the first year students have that. I think it is really cool to see that.

I think it was a good week to go through everything and discuss things we do and do not understand.

October 27th, Week 6

nlisdahl — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:15:10 +0000

This week we did not have clinic as the clinic was flooded from the rain.

October 20th, Week 5

nlisdahl — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 22:25:01 +0000

I am starting to feel more and more comfortable doing the interventions in clinic. I feel strongly that I am performing the interventions in a competent manner. As the semester progresses I think I will be even more comfortable that I am doing things the right way. I did the standing frame this week again with my patient and feel pretty confident with that.

I am learning to bill appropriately for this and feel confident in doing so. Billing is an important part of the treatment session and I am starting to feel more and more confident doing that. At first it was more difficult but it is getting easier. I think my documentation in general is getting stronger each week through clinic.

Oct.13th, week 4

nlisdahl — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 01:50:53 +0000

Collecting data about my patients in clinic is getting easier now that we have been doing this for quite some time. I think I am doing well with following the plan of care and collecting data that is appropriate and related to the treatment. I do still need to ask the instructor questions about the plan and treatment to make sure things are clear before my patient arrives.

I am starting the feel more confident in knowing when the plan of care needs to be modified to my patient. I can see when something is not working right for my patient and can go to the instructor to try different things for my patient. As time goes on I think I will get more and more comfortable going to the PT for modifications according to my patients needs.

week 3, 10/6

nlisdahl — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 22:06:56 +0000

This week in clinic I had one patient and I helped the PT with another patient. I was sensitive to the patients’ needs and respected the patients for who they were. I asked the patients if they were comfortable and showed concern for their status. I always treat each patient with the same amount of respect and dignity. This week I had two different patients that I worked with and each had their own set of problems. I treated both fairly and with the same amount of care and concern.