I guess I need a new blog name

It's official...I have my Masters of Occupational Therapy as of yesterday :)

sooo I guess now I'm an OT Practitioner instead of A Soon To Be OT !





... now I reallllly need to buckle down and get some studying done for the NBCOT!

First job interview and offer

I had my first job interview on Friday afternoon. It was with a Skilled Nursing Facility in Norfolk, VA.
To say I was nervous would be an understatement but it went so well! The HR manager and the Rehab Director were so friendly and welcoming which made all the difference! They asked me questions for about 30 minutes and then I got a tour of the facility.
Here are the questions I got asked...that I can remember
1. In terms of clinical skills, what would you consider to be your strength and your weakness?
2. Tell me about a time when you were working with a group and things did not go well.
3. Tell me about a time you had to explain something complicated and how did it go?
4. Tell me about a time you set a goal for yourself and did you achieve it, why/why not?
5. How do you determine if a patient is ready to be discharged?
6.  Describe a time you were working with a pt and their family members had unrealistic expectations. How did you deal with this?
7.  Describe a time when you had to deal with an emotion patient or family member.
8. Tell me about a time when you were proud of yourself
9. How do others in the workplace see you as a role model?

I got asked a few others but I cannot remember them! I left feeling great about the interview but had concerns about being the only OTR at the facility, with 2 COTA's to supervise. When I left, the HR person said I would hear back by Tuesday.

Fast forward to Monday and I got an email from the HR manager asking me to call her. I tried calling when I got off work but she was already gone for the day. This morning she called and left me a voicemail asking me to call her back so we could discuss a few things....
I called her this afternoon after I got off from work and she said they would love to have me join their team!!!! :) BUT since I would be the only OTR there, I would have to work as a Rehab Tech until I pass the NBCOT...which I'm not too thrilled about...but I don't plan on waiting too long to take the exam so I wouldn't have to be a Rehab Tech for more than a month or so.  I am very happy with the salary they offered once I pass the exam though...

***
I have another job interview this thursday that I am really excited about. I have had the best feeling about it after speaking with them. There is another OT there so I would be able to work while I study for the NBCOT.
I can't wait to get another interview under my belt and hopefully get another offer so that I can compare and weigh the options.

I also am hoping to set up a couple more interviews with Sentara- a large hospital system here, Genesis and RehabCare. We'll see!

Send positive thoughts my way-- and prayers appreciated as I make these decisions!!

ASIA testing

Today, we did ASIA testing on my Spinal Cord patient.. The PT had done a couple ASIA testings on other patients but me and my supervisor had never done one before so it was really neat to participate...and I got to test his legs :)
This is the form that is used...

The dots on the body to the right of the form are the areas that you test sensation using the cotton or the pin prick..the pt has to tell you what they feel, and where they feel it. It wasn't as complicated as I was originally thinking! The pt came it diagnosed as a t12  SCI but we found out that he is more like a t10 SCI with his motor movement and sensation.

Today, I used a reacher, cones and a ring toss activity to work with him on seated balance activities, I wrote a short term goal for him to be able to sit on the edge of the mat table for up to 1 minute with min assist...this will be important for transfers to the bedside commode, and especially when he goes home. I'm looking forward to monday bc we are going to get on the mat with him and do some fun things! I can't wait to learn so much about SCI and how to treat and teach them different techniques! Keep ya posted :)

Have a great weekend :)

week 6

Hello all (all 1 or 2 people that actually read this haha)
I'm not in my 6th week of this fieldwork. ONLY 6 MORE !!!

So far I have had pt's with hip replacements, knee replacements, multi trauma,  and stroke. Today I got my first SCI patient. He is a t12 paraplegic and it is OVERWHELMING..there is just soo much different stuff between the ortho patients and a cord patient. I did his eval today and it took 4 of us to get him sitting EOB and then to do a sliding board transfer to the w/c. He is going to be a great learning experience and I'm excited to see how far he comes!! Tomorrow we are doing ASIA testing on him bc he isn't really presenting like a T12 SCI...so that will be really interesting!

Man I am sooo over my multi-trauma patient- he has a long history of back pain, and then was in a car accident and pretty much shattered his leg from the knee cap down. He is seriously addicted to pain medications. He knows exactly what time of day he gets which pain medicine and if you ask his pain level, he will just be sitting there saying he is a "high 9" or "oh its about a 10 right now"...when a 10 is the WORST PAIN EVER you would not be able to sit there without screaming bc its so bad!! And he is just getting on my nerves- he talks badly about his wife EVERY day- today he called her "the pitbull" and he has been inappropriate with me - calling me 'sweet cheeks' and saying "i cant afford a divorce but if i could, youd be worth it"...so we had to have a little talking too and he's straightened up some now thankfully! He is scheduled to go home on the 18th but we are trying to get him out sooner!

My other pt now is a double hip replacement. Hes a real nice guy and easy to work with. Its challenging bc of his size- he's very large- if he was going down there is absolutely nothing I could do to stop it!

I really need to start on my graduate project and my inservice ASAP- maybe this weekend? I am making a vision assessment kit for my facility, and doing my inservice on spinal cord injury. Should be a good learning experience but I am NOT looking forward to the presentation that's for sure!

Alright, well that's about it for now :)

week 4 already??

Well here we are, already in week 4, almost 1/3 of he way done =)
Right now I am seeing 3 patients, adding a 4th tomorrow and an eval tomorrow. I will be doing my first eval on a pt with CVA. I am a little nervous about it but I know it will go okay, and my supervisor will be there to help if I need it. I read a little bit of information on him today and he has significant global aphasia (problems with receptive and expressive communication) and he only understands about 1/2 of what we say to him! So this should be a little tricky.

The past two weeks, I have been a little board with my patients so I have asked for some different diagnoses as they come in, I am getting the CVA pt tomorrow, will hopefully had a TBI and SCI before its over. Census has been low still so there just isn't much going on-most of the pt's are gen debil, amputees or joint replacements. I'm kind of at a standstill with my patients right now.

I have also been slowly realizing that its OKAY to not know the answer to something, my supervisor likes to ask me random- well not really random as far as content goes but timing wise- questions and sometimes i just have to say "i don't know". Interesting fact I learned today: A metronome is used for pt's with parkinson's in order to work on gait training and their rhythm when walker. Yeah, I didn't know that and was asked today.

Oh, last week, since the census is so low on our floor, we have been going to help out on the LTAC floor (i may have mentioned this already) but I am certain that acute care is NOT for me, I cannot handle the smells, the tubes/lines coming out of everywhere on the pt...it just makes me nervous and slightly nauseous. I thought I was going to have to leave the room the other day.


So that's what's been going on with me.
Oh and I also picked up my NBCOT book for the first time last weekend =\ YIKES i got a lot to review and learn still before taking that!  #wakeupcall

Level 2 number 2 weeks 1-2

Well here I am, in the middle of week two of my second (AND LAST) fieldwork placement! I Arrived in Newport News almost two weeks ago- on a thursday morning- and spent all day thursday and friday organizing and unpacking. It was a little rough thursday night after my mom left bc I was just so sad and nervous about being over 4 hours from home but things are getting much better now and I'm settling in pretty good.

That monday I had to be at the facility at 8:30 for orientation most of the day. The lady that did my orientation was nice, but kindof odd and I didn't really feel that comfortable around her. She had way too many awkward pauses and gave me some odd looks. Then I met my supervisor and the other people on the 3rd floor around lunch time. That just wasn't a good day for me. I sat with them all during lunch and no one said anything to me the entire 30min lunch break...i mean NOT ONE WORD. I was just sitting there wondering why they are so unfriendly?? oh and that day, the doctor's bought them a few papa john's pizzas and they were all digging in right in front of me and didn't even offer a piece.... i just thought that was extremely rude.

Luckily, things have gotten better and people are much more friendly now, BUT you only get one chance at a first impression...and that wasn't a good one.

Anyways, the place I am at is an Inpatient Rehab Hospital. I am on the 3rd floor which is mainly Ortho, General Debilitation and SCI. The 2nd floor is the Neuro floor (CVA, TBI) and then there is a 4th floor that is a long-term acute care unit.  The patients on the 2nd and 3rd floor get 3 hours of therapy a day meaning they get 1 1/2 hr each of OT and PT (if speech isn't involved). They usually break it up and see each patient 3x a day for 30 minutes at a time. So it makes scheduling kindof weird.

Last week on Wednesday, I got my first patient to treat. He had a R BKA (below the knee amputation) We have been working on transfers, dressing, bathing, core strength/stability, balance, and upper body strengthening. On Friday I got a second patient- she has back surgery and ended up leaving today to prepare for her son's wedding on friday. Today, I got a third patient and actually did her eval. She is the cutest old lady and so tiny. She fell at home and fractured her patella (knee cap).

But, there are only 6 patients on the floor right now which is just RIDICULOUS. So they are possibly going to close the floor and send the rehab staff to a different facility until they get more admissions.

So that has been my week and a half in a nutshell.

DONE!

Well as of Friday, I have successfully completed my first Level 2 Fieldwork!! I never would have imagined that i would have loved it as much as I did. I am truly blessed to have been placed at Springtree and to have met the wonderful people that I met. On thursday, my supervisor and the other OT staff threw me a surprise party with yummy food and a cookie cake! It was so nice of them and I was completely surprised. Also on Friday, I gave them each a small thank you gift and card.  This is what I made for each of the OT's and COTA's:

Luckily I pinned this idea on Pinterest a while back and was able to use it! I had originally thought I was going to use vinyl and my friends Cricut machine to put each of their initials on a mug. But because her Cricut was being used by a family member out of town- this was plan B! I actually liked it a lot better than just their initials anyways and they seemed to really like them too! All you need is a mug (I found these at TJ Maxx for $2/each) and sharpees. Once you write on the mug, they go in the oven for 30min at 350 degrees to make it 'permanent'. They do need to be handwashed after they have been used tho- apparently the dishwasher messes up the writing/drawing.

Anyways, that was on Thursday. On Friday I saw my final patients, said my 'Goodbyes' and my supervisor and I had our final meeting to go over how she evaluated me and my eval of the fieldwork site. I honestly couldn't believe how high she rated me on the AOTA form. I was shocked to see the final percentage, especially when the form itself says that 4's are very rare, and here she is giving me all 4's and two 3's.  She said she didn't think she has ever rated a student that high...which makes me feel pretty proud.
She also took me to speak with the HR person about working there doing PRN work (unless a full time OT spot opens up) when I get back from my next placement. Will definitely look into that because I just loved the facility and everyone so much, and by the end of the placement it felt like I worked there already anyways.

Now that I'm on a two week break, I have just been relaxing and getting prepared for my next affiliation. I'm moving down to Newport News next Thursday- eeek it's SO soon!!! Will keep you posted on how that goes!!