Official Therapist Blog

Physical Therapists Working with Recovering Arthroscopic Surgery Patients …

Author Therapy Career Blogger | 03.03.2010 | Category Ellen Bloome-PT, Locations, Medical/Surgical, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapist Jobs, Therapist Jobs, Top Therapy Blogs, physical therapy

Knowing more about new tools in medical robotics is a help.

Arthroscopic surgery means allowing a surgeon to repair or remove tissue from a joint with virtually no disruption to other critical parts. The surgery is achieved via insertion of microscopic instruments and camera through the portal of an incredibly small incision site. Sufficed to say, surgeon careers are changing in the new millennium—and most medical professionals, including those in therapist jobs agree those changes are positive and exciting.

Arthroscopic procedures are monitored on a television screen, and to laypeople and healthcare professionals alike, it sounds like the stuff of science fiction. Physical and occupational therapists that work with recovering surgical patients, understand that sci fi or no, arthroscopic operations are stories that generally end well.

Here’s why. Patients benefit from this procedure because they are at a substantially lowered risk for blood loss and infection; as ideal as an arthroscopic procedure can be, there is, however, room for improvement, especially in the area of arthroscopic surgeries on the hip joint.  Mechanical engineers, like Emily Geist are working now, in a collaborative effort with engineers at Carnegie Mellon, to ensure patients like Ellen Bloome, PT continue to receive, should they need one, successful arthroscopic surgeries in the future.

To better understand what warrants further research on arthroscopic surgeries to the hip joint, therapists may be the first to point out what a tricky place in the human body the hip joint resides. Says Geist, “The hip is a lot deeper in the body than the knee or the shoulder, and it’s a lot tighter. The hip has a ball and a socket. It’s a little more difficult to get an instrument in there. There is a navigation challenge often times when you are that deep in the body.”

Luckily, there are mechanical engineers working with surgeons, that can navigate that challenge, as evidenced in a recent article about computer aided arthroscopy becoming the wave of the future—for therapists who love a good career enhancing read, please click here to learn more about some of the inspiration and research behind medical robotics. It’s all fascinating stuff, and, who knows, it could lead to future therapist jobs at a top rehab hospital—check out Colorado Therapist Jobs to further that possibility and earn up to 20% more!

How to improve your nursing skills to make you a stronger travel nurse

Author Healthcare Jobs Blogger | 03.09.2009 | Category ACLS, Certifications, Continuing Education Units (CEU), Medical/Surgical, Nursing, Travel Nursing

In today’s travel nursing market it is important to keep informed on what hospitals are requiring and looking for when trying to fill a travel position. A trend that we see is that hospitals are now posting positions for nurses to cover several different units. For example a hospital may request a medical/surgical nurse that can also work in pediatrics and telemetry. Or a Critical care travel nurse that can also work on the med/surg, telemetry and ER units. An L&D nurse that can also do mother/baby and NICU.

Because of this trend hospitals are asking for more certifications. A Medical/Surgical travel nurse may need ACLS or PALS to work on a unit. An L&D nurse may require ACLS in addition to the normal BLS and NRP. AHWONN is becoming a standard certification for many of the Labor and Delivery positions that we are posting. Critical Care nurses should consider taking a Critical Care course.

If you are thinking about traveling or are a travel nurse now I suggest that you ask your Nurse Manager what other areas that you can float to within your scope of practice. Also speak to the Education Department in your hospital or go to www.americanheart.org to check out classes in your area to get additional certifications. Travel Force offers free Continuing Education Units to their travelers.

A travel nurse who has several specialties and has exceeded the required certifications is a nurse that will stand out as a travel nurse candidate.

Many nurses that we speak to look forward to the challenge of working on different units and enjoy the change of pace that it brings to their job. That makes travel nursing even more rewarding.