Official Therapist Blog

What Physical Therapists Need to Know about Top Ranking Hospitals

Author Therapy Career Blogger | 03.23.2010 | Category Allied Healthcare, Locations, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapist Jobs, Therapist Jobs, Therapy Jobs, Top Rehab Careers, Top Therapy Blogs, physical therapy, rehabilitation therapy

The best rehabilitation hospitals in America boil down to a “Top 25” list, and are chosen via recommendation of specialists who give their highest marks to facilities offering state of the art procedures and care.

In review of the crème de la crème, PTs and therapists of every stripe find the following consistency: the top 25 rehab hospitals share zip codes with some of the most metropolitan cities in the country; for some professionals living in these exciting environments, the cost of living is high—fortunately, this is not the case for employees of our Therapist Staffing Agency, where free private housing make physical therapy jobs infinitely more appealing.

Another reason therapists and folks in occupational therapy jobs will be glad they read this?

Travel Force matches qualified applicants with physical therapy jobs in the thick of our nation’s top rehab hospitals, named by U.S. News & World Report.

You can read more about the metro areas where top rehabilitation therapy facilities are located on online professional platform sites, like AfterCollege.com, which helps college students, alumni and employers utilize career networks across the country, ultimately landing the best Rehab Jobs.

Therapists craving city details—let’s say, for example you and the rest of your graduating class wanted to apply for physical therapist jobs in Florida—would be wise to click around and get more information on PT jobs in the sunshine state, where benefits and compensation are nice and high.

Let us once again remind you, though, that therapists perusing websites like Travel Force and AfterCollege —and subsequently finding scintillating photos of Top metro areas for rehab therapists, need not worry about pricey renter’s fees that have a way of making such cities notorious—notorious for skyscrapers and sky high costs in living that is—at Travel Force you don’t pay any rent—and, as a result, you do a LOT more living!

In closing, and because we think it resonates better this way, check out our list below, containing the ambitious therapist’s short list of cities we staff with allied health professionals. When you apply online for a job in one of these happening towns, or in a Travel Force staffed state close to the high ranking action, you’re likely to land at one of the Top 25—a fantastic move for your physical therapy career!

• Seattle, WA
• Columbus , OH
• Richmond, VA
• Cleveland, OH
• Texas
• Colorado
• Massachusetts
• North Carolina

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 make your therapist career an open road to happiness and professional fulfillment

Author Therapy Career Blogger | 03.01.2010 | Category Career Tips, How To's, Occupational Therapy, Therapist Jobs, Top Therapy Blogs, physical therapy

Occupational and physical therapist jobs are part of a strong rehab team, wherein everybody understands that attitude is key; a good one takes you places, sometimes—and especially on a Travel Force assignment—literally!

If you’re looking at travel physical therapist jobs or recently landed one, your chief concern is excelling at your new post. There’s no better feeling than being invited to return, receiving an offer to extend the therapist job, or simply making friends you’ll keep in touch with forever.

How can you be “PRFCT” in anticipation of, say, a new physical therapist career? In your best cheerleading voice, “What’s that spell?! “

The ‘P’ is for Professional; the ‘R’ for Reliable; the ‘F’ for Filling-in for a friend or colleague in need; the ‘C’ for Cordiality and, last but not least, the “T” is for Time Conscientiousness—you never, never want to run late.

So, ladies and gentleman of PT and travel occupational therapy jobs world, we give you PRFCT—tion in short order. When you do all of these things right, you can’t go wrong.

• Arrive a couple days ahead of your start date, so you can get a feel for your new environment.
• Make a test drive to work. How long does it take you to leave your new apartment and begin your shift?
• Take a tour of the facility and familiarize yourself with the unit you’ll be working in.
• Remember that your first day sets an overall tone for the rest of the assignment, so make sure it’s a positive “1st Day”!
• Be prepared for anything! Some assignments take a while to get intense, while others hit the ground running.
• Bring at least two pens and a notepad to take plenty of notes on your first day. The more technical savvy can use a new smart phone app called Evernote, reviewed here.
• Be a team player—as clichéd as it sounds, you know what it means and how important it is.
• At the end of each assignment, ask for written references from the colleagues and managers you worked with—it creates positive career momentum for your next job.

Lastly, get on the road to success in your travel therapist career by bookmarking career resources; its links provide, among other things, an opportunity to share pictures of your traveling experiences on all the major social networking sites, find AAA info, Zagat rated restaurants, maps, hotel recommendations, etc. You’ll get psyched to work hard and travel light!

CDC page helps Rehab Therapy professionals treat sports-related injuries

Author Therapy Career Blogger | 02.22.2010 | Category Career Tips, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapist Jobs, Therapist Jobs, Therapy Jobs, Top Therapy Blogs, physical therapy, rehabilitation therapy

When it comes to helping Rehab Therapy professionals treat sports-related injuries, The CDC is stepping up to the plate

Kids play hard. Exercise mixed with outdoor activity is a wonderful thing, but sports related injuries do occur, and with current admissions to U.S. emergency rooms hovering at 135,000 per year, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is taking notice. In fact, the CDC just launched a sports injury page on their website, where medical staff, i.e. physical and occupational therapists, as well as coaches, teammates and patients can find printable palm cards and other resources that outline the symptoms of a probable Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Dealing with the repercussions (of a concussion) can often be what a rehab team is all about. Rehabilitation therapy job professionals get the patient back on track by ensuring the skills necessary to perform ADLs (activities of daily living) are relearned.

If you thrive in PT and OT jobs, you work tirelessly to improve every aspect of your patient’s physical function.

You work toward an ultimate goal of increasing the patient’s physical endurance and, because every patient is an individual and as such, unique, your treatment plans are perfectly structured to meet specific injuries and needs.
But before treatment can begin, there has to be a diagnosis, and the CDC is only enforcing what you probably already know.

What signs can you observe in a patient who may have only just sustained a TBI injury? The following is a short list of symptoms:

• Appears dazed or stunned
• Is confused over a simple task
• Forgets sports plays
• Is unsure of game, score, opponent
• Moves clumsily
• Answers questions slowly
• Loses consciousness (even briefly)
• Shows behavior or personality changes
• Can’t recall events PRIOR to hit or fall (retrograde amnesia)
• Can’t recall events AFTER hit or fall (anterograde amnesia)

The next list is what the patient might describe in the event of his or her TBI injury:

• Headache or “pressure” in head
• Nausea
• Balance problems or dizziness
• Double or fuzzy vision
• Sensitivity to light and/or noise
• Feeling sluggish or slowed down
• Feeling foggy or groggy
• Does not “feel right”

No matter where you practice rehabilitation therapy, you are a critical part in patient recovery; that being said, we would still like to leave you with a bookmark worthy website. US News & World Report has a current listing of the best rehab hospitals in the nation. Which jobs at Travel Force put you in the top 3? Check out Seattle therapist jobs and see if you can get close to the healing action at the University of Washington Medical Center—but keep this obvious and happy truth in mind: you can make a difference anywhere.

Want a rewarding career in Physical Therapy? Read on for cutting edge credentialing and licensure info

Author Therapy Career Blogger | 02.15.2010 | Category How to Tips, Ongoing Education, Physical Therapist Jobs, Therapist Jobs, Therapy Jobs, Top Therapy Blogs, physical therapist licensing, physical therapy, rehabilitation therapy

As a dedicated PT, you spend your days restoring, maintaining and promoting the overall fitness of your patients; chances are you’re just as invested in doing the same with your career. Whether you’re a practicing Physical Therapist, PT Assistant, a recent graduate preparing for the NPTE Exam, or just beginning to consider accredited physical therapy schools, we have career resource tools to benefit you greatly.

In traveling physical therapy jobs, you can expect to work in one or more locations (of your choosing) per year, and see a six-figure ceiling in earning potential, a nice return on your investment after graduating with a master’s or doctoral degree from a PT educational program. The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) lists accredited schools in every state in the U.S. –just click here to check them out—you’ll also find links to APTA, and other benchmarks in physical therapy, on our therapist career resources page.

As for recent PT grads, you’re eager to practice your affinity for therapeutic procedures and examination techniques! Your next step is licensure within the state you wish to practice. The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (see the FSBPT website) has all the information you need on registering for state licensing exams and learning more about mandatory continuing education; every PT should book mark FSBPT for its state-by-state licensing authorities.

Almost every job posting for a PT position requires, in addition to state licensure, a completion card from a 4 ½ hour Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) course. PTs are expected to recognize life-threatening emergencies and respond with the right maneuver, i.e., CPR, Heimlich or through use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Physical Therapy Assistants (PTAs) can get a high octane career off to a great start by getting involved in the Recognition Program, which honors advanced proficiency in a specified area of work – such as, Musculoskeletal, Neuromuscular, Geriatric, Pediatric, Cardiovascular/Pulmonary, and/or Integumentary. You’ll need to create a user name and password on the APTA website if you’re interested in downloading an online application.

Best wishes in your continuing education!