Official Therapist Blog

Author Therapy Career Blogger | 08.27.2010 | Category Allied Healthcare, Career Tips, How to Tips, Physical Therapist Jobs, physical therapist licensing, physical therapy

Travel Force has Physical Therapist License Requirements for all 50 U.S. states!

Recently, Travel Force posted a website resource that is receiving rave reviews. We call it our Go-to Guide for Foreign Educated physical therapists. It addresses the specific needs of non-U.S. born job seekers, looking to meet state licensure requirements in America’s 50 states for physical therapist careers.

Our Go-to Guide supplies qualified job seekers, educated in countries outside the U.S., including Canada and Mexico, direct links to state Physical Therapy Boards, applications and instructions for meeting US physical therapist license requirements in the nation’s leading destinations for allied healthcare careers.

Recruiting experts at Travel Force decided to expand this information, so that it includes the entire U.S.A.!

Visit Travel Force’s new career resource page today for foreign trained physical therapist license information in all 50 states. The information provided is detailed and comprehensive; it lets the foreign trained physical therapist instantly access licensing information, answers to frequently asked questions, detailed instructions, application forms and packets. Most applications may be submitted online.

Additionally, this career resource for foreign educated physical therapists includes direct links to the premier credentials evaluation agency, the Foreign Credentialing Commission on Physical Therapy (FCCPT), accepted and encouraged by a majority of U.S. states. Our new career resource cites, also, the importance the majority of U.S. states place on graduation from schools approved by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).

What else can foreign trained physical therapists expect to benefit from this comprehensive guide found in Travel Force’s long list of valuable career resources? We are happy to report that—because each state differs in its laws and approaches to obtaining a physical therapy license—a specific detail that helps set that state apart; by providing advanced notice of what to expect in a certain state, the physical therapist is better prepared to make application there without error, quickly and efficiently. See some examples below:

Did you know?

Foreign educated physical therapists seeking licensure in Florida are no longer required to submit proof of English proficiency?

Or that

In Louisiana no physical therapist may practice without first obtaining a temporary permit?

Foreign educated professionals seeking physical therapy jobs in America are going to find that, in many U.S. states, unique rules apply for meeting requirements set by individual state Physical Therapy Boards and, fortunately, Travel Force covers them all.

Don’t forget to check out the foreign trained physical therapy license page at Travel Force today—where we supply talented physical therapists, of all nationalities, with everything they need to meet state board requirements and hit the ground running in the physical therapy career of their dreams—WHEREVER their ambition decides to take them.

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Rehabilitation Hospital Stays: Brief but Highly Effective

Author Healthcare Jobs Blogger | 08.13.2010 | Category Allied Healthcare, Career Tips, Occupational Therapy, Respiratory Therapy, Speech Language Pathologist, Therapist Jobs, Therapy Jobs, Tidbits, Travel Therapist, Traveling Therapist, physical therapy, rehabilitation therapy

Expecting to make a complete recovery means patients and caregivers give 100% to rehab team

The purpose of inpatient rehab is, of course, to help the patient regain functions lost because of injury and illness, stemming from stroke, brain, various neurological conditions, recovery from orthopedic surgery, or spinal cord dysfunction.

Patient participation in the healing process is as critical as physical therapy is—yet perhaps the biggest challenge in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital stay is its brevity, averaging just 38 days for serious conditions.

Physical and occupational therapists are on task immediately, interviewing patients about their lifestyle and home environment, so they can customize a rehab treatment plan. Before the patient lands in the care of a PT, OT, or other specialist, chances are they were in a community hospital—an environment quite different from a rehab facility.

Rehab Professionals set the pace in patient’s recovery

Once a patient is matched with the right level of rehabilitative care, doctors, nurses and others in rehab jobs must help patients adjust to a radically changed pace in treatment and expectations. While hospitals manage nearly every aspect of a patient’s care, the rehab facility places most of patient recovery squarely in the hands of the patient. The patient must be committed to working hard with therapists, even if they find physical therapy grueling—a tall order considering that rehabilitation hospitals ensure patients receive and benefit from several hours of occupational and physical therapy daily, usually five days a week.

Insurers, like Medicare and Medicaid mandate patient participation, and may cut benefits if they fail to make enough progress. Since this is the last thing physical therapists and other specialists want to see happen, they help things along much as possible, providing the following in patient care:

A smooth transition from community hospital to rehab hospital
Pain management
Physical therapy that helps patient regain independent function on all daily activities of life
Motivation and emotional support
Feedback to patient’s loved ones

A Positive Attitude + Increased Patient Involvement = Positive Rehab Experience

A good attitude is essential if the patient is to progress in daily physical therapy sessions and, depending on his or her condition or illness, expanded treatment that may include gait training and speech therapy.

What changes in the move from acute hospital care to Inpatient Rehab Facility:

visiting hours
meals
learning names and roles of a new health care team
noise level
amount of privacy

Case Managers and patient’s family a critical part of recovery

Case Managers will also coordinate care at the inpatient rehab hospital, assisting in the design of specific programs that help patients regain their independence; also involved are the patient’s family and caregivers who may be expected to:

Fetch comfortable clothing
Attend team meetings to assess progress
Participate in meeting set deadline for rehab goal
Serve as a link to the community and outside world

Excellent Teamwork follows the patient home

Caregivers and family will continue to play an active role in the patient’s life after discharge from the Rehab hospital; they provide transportation to medical and therapy appointments, pick up and administer medications, help the patient in the bathroom, fix meals, adhere to an exercise schedule, as well as deal with financial issues incurred during the rehab process.

Without good nurses and excellent home health, creating a safe environment in the patient’s home would be next to impossible, but thanks to a talented rehab team, coupled with the patient’s strong will to get back to normal, anything and everything that’s good lies in wait.

Travel Force offers over 20 years of hospital and rehab staffing; placing physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech language pathologists in permanent and temporary positions in top-rated rehab hospitals and healthcare facilities across the U.S. Joint Commission certified, Travel Force provides staffing services to Outpatient Rehab Centers, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Sub Acute Settings, and university teaching facilities. Make a positive change in someone’s life today. Apply online for physical therapy jobs!

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Program Creates Opportunities in Healthcare Jobs for Young People with Disabilities

Author Healthcare Jobs Blogger | 08.03.2010 | Category Allied Healthcare, Therapist Jobs, rehabilitation therapy

Project Search is a growing program designed to help young adults with significant disabilities enter the healthcare workforce and secure solid healthcare jobs. The successful program now operates in 42 states in the United States as well as in Australia and the United Kingdom. It has been credited with changing countless lives and creating new opportunities and independence for those who so often find starting a career difficult.

The program reaches out to young adults ages 18-21 and offers them on-the-job training and a paycheck. These young people can learn skills needed for a wide variety of positions including patient services, materials management, environmental services, clerical positions, food service, information servers, therapy jobs and rehab jobs at rehabilitation hospitals, and countless other potential career skills

In addition to healthcare job training, Project Search offers job coaching, educational opportunities, tips on work ethics and work-site rotations, all designed to help individuals with disabilities prepare for success in the healthcare job industry.

Project Search started in 1996, the result of a partnership between Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, the Hamilton County Board of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities and others.

The program varies somewhat from location to location but a typical schedule might have participants working their healthcare jobs five days a week with two hours a day in a classroom setting where they learn job readiness skills. The rest of the day can be viewed as an internship where actual healthcare job skills are learned. They are paid for their time.

Among the countless benefits the program offers is helping participants tackle that difficult transition from school years to joining the work force. The program has also given the families of these young people a lift and hope for their futures.

One of the more recent hospitals to join the program was St. Mary’s in Richmond, Virginia.

In June, six students completed the program. None received a diploma but rather something more important to them…a job. The six trained in departments ranging from nutrition and radiology to linens and pediatrics.

The list of jobs these Project Search participants qualify for is extensive. At rehabilitation hospitals any number of therapy jobs or rehab jobs could be deemed suitable. Students have trained in Family Care Centers, Coronary Care, Infection Control and almost every imaginable sector of the healthcare jobs industry.

Joshua Parker, a Project Search student/intern at St. Mary’s summed it up nicely when he called his involvement “the chance of a lifetime”.