Official Therapist Blog

Rehabilitation Hospital Stays: Brief but Highly Effective

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

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!

May is Speech and Hearing Month—a celebration of miracle workers

Author Therapy Career Blogger | 05.03.2010 | Category Allied Healthcare, Career Tips, Monthly Events, Speech Language Pathologist, Speech and Hearing Month - May, Therapist Jobs, Therapy Jobs

No two ways about it, Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) are miracle workers. Their professional expertise restores the human connection for those with aphasia—a language disorder affecting approximately 1 million American stroke victims—stuttering, hearing loss, and other communication disorders.

This Spring, like any other and many to come, we add our voices to an appreciative public by recognizing allied health professionals in speech therapy jobs; it’s the 75th Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM) in the United States.

We’d like to take a moment, review more current statistics on communication disorders and define some of the challenges the modern speech therapist faces—and how their skills benefit patients during BHSM and all year round.

According to the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, the number of Americans suffering from speech, voice, language or hearing impairment hovers around 43 million—in that sobering statistic, there are at least 28 million confirmed cases of hearing loss—and the figure that resonates? 10% of these communication disorders are owned by our children; reason enough for SLPs to get up each day and excel at doing what they do—teaching strategies that help patients cope and overcome.

Because a child with a communication disorder is 4 or 5 times more likely than his peers to suffer from significant reading problems, speech and language pathologists are relied upon by the general public to anticipate those hurdles, and, if possible, lift them out of the way; of course, SLPs are there for anyone in need, at any age, unwilling to let communication disorders hamper social lives, careers or G.P.A.

That being said, have you taken stock of your own health lately? How’s your hearing? It may surprise you to know that of those 28 million people we mentioned earlier—the ones with hearing deficits—only a quarter of them seek diagnosis and hearing aids; since this is a “silent treatment” we can’t afford to perpetuate, here’s a shortlist of symptoms we’d like you to consider.

Is Speech and Hearing Month when you decide you need a hearing aid? The answer may be yes, if you identify with any of the following:

• Have pain or ringing in your ears
• Frequently ask people to repeat themselves
• Keep the volume up on audio equipment, others say is too loud
• Understand people better looking directly at their faces, or by wearing your glasses
• Lose your place in group conversations
• Often turn your ear toward a sound to hear it better

If you don’t get around to thinking about these issues this month, but nonetheless like a historical excuse to take charge of your hearing and communicative health, let June inspire you too.

On June 27, 2010, Helen Keller celebrates her 130th birthday. While not a board certified, and rigorously trained speech therapist, her teacher and mentor, Anne Sullivan, who employed SLP skills helping Hellen, made a huge difference in the quality of Helen’s life; to come so far a century ago, is so telling of what speech therapists are capable of now. This May we ask you to celebrate Better Hearing and Speech Month and to keep working your miracles all year long.

About Travel Force Speech Therapy Jobs

Speech Pathologist Jobs at Travel Force Staffing take your career to the next level. We staff more university teaching hospitals and top-ranked rehabilitation hospitals than other therapist job agency. We have high-paying speech therapy jobs in Washington D.C., Boston, Baltimore, Atlanta, San Francisco and other fast-growing healthcare markets.

Get started now on the path to financial freedom. Not only can you earn up to 20 percent more with therapy jobs at Travel Force our free benefits, bonuses, company-matched 401(k), reimbursement for approved travel and utilities, licensure reimbursement and Tax Advantage Plan mean thousands more in your paycheck every month. Call to speak to an expert today at 800-617-0608 or Apply Online.

Speech Language Pathologist - Rated in Top 20 Careers by Career Builder

Author Healthcare Jobs Blogger | 01.05.2010 | Category Allied Healthcare, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Therapy, Speech Language Pathologist, Therapist Jobs, Therapy Jobs, Top Rehab Careers, Travel Therapist, Traveling Therapist

During this rough economy, choosing to start a new career can be a tough decision to make. However, there are a number of jobs in the health care field, and in physical therapy specifically, that are showing above average employment growth and job stability. Speech Language Pathology, for example, was recently named one of the top 20 careers to “work less, earn more” by Career Builder. According to Career Builder, speech language pathologists, also called speech pathologists or speech therapists work an average of 37.5 hours a week and earn over $53,000 annually. A Speech Pathologist working as a travel therapist can earn an even greater annual salary, averaging over $77,000, as well as free private housing accommodations, health insurance, and other travel therapy job benefits.

Speech therapists diagnose speech and communication difficulties and then develop specialized plans of treatment for each patient. They work with patients whose difficulties stem from learning or developmental disorders, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, stroke, brain injury, or any number of other congenital, developmental, or acquired problems. Speech therapists can find speech language pathology jobs in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, private homes, or other specialist practices.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a faster than average growth rate for speech pathologist employment, but there are a number of educational and licensure requirements required for speech therapists. Most speech pathology jobs require a master’s degree, and some states require that that degree be from a school accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Required courses include, among others, physiology, anatomy, and acoustics. Additional requirements for speech language pathology licensure include a passing score on the national speech pathology test, over 300 hours of supervised clinical experience, and nine months of postgraduate professional clinical experience. Speech therapists working in educational settings may have additional requirements based on the state’s Department of Education.

For more information about beginning a career in speech language pathology, visit the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. To find travel speech pathology jobs or other travel therapy jobs, visit Travel Force.