By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

Physical and occupational therapy in the workplace can prevent further physical pain and trauma for employees and legal headaches for employers. Occupational rehab therapists play a valuable role in teaching healthy, uninjured employees how to stay that way, promote workplace ergonomics, and conduct OSHA training among their many other teaching, training and therapeutic tasks. They also screen at-risk employees for high blood pressure and other potentially dangerous and medically liable conditions while assisting injured patients return to work.

In order to perform these vital functions in the workplace, occupational and physical therapists must have the traditional Master’s degree from an accredited program required for work as an OT or PT, as well as having passed the national licensure exam. The rehab therapist working in occupational health may also be required to obtain continuing education in workplace specific areas such as ergonomics and OSHA, depending on the employer or agency.

Or, in the case of one Ohio man the certification list could include “none of the above.” Earlier this year, Michael Stinson, accused of performing physical therapy on occupational health clients without a license, was convicted and sentenced to 37 months in federal prison. His sentence also included repaying over 2 million dollars to the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation and the IRS.

Fortunately for legitimate rehabilitation therapists and travel therapists working in physical and occupational therapy, there is plenty of legal money to be earned in an occupational health career or travel assignment in this area. Worker’s compensation claims and in the worst cases, lawsuits, can be traumatic for both employer and employee alike. Occupational and physical therapists have the expertise, skills and special gift for employee training, that can help employer’s meet the universal goal of reducing illness and injury in the workplace.

Traveling physical therapists and traveling occupational therapists with a special passion for teaching and safety training should mention their interest in a workplace occupational health assignment to their travel agency recruiter.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

If you love being a rehab therapist, whether in physical or occupational therapy or speech language pathology, but working in a hospital or other traditional clinical setting is not for you, consider the more intimate atmosphere of a career or a travel therapy career in home health. There are a variety of reasons for the growing number of patients requiring rehabilitation therapy at home, from the aging population of America and their complex medical needs to insurance limitations on inpatient and therefore in-house therapy time.

Home health rehabilitation therapy assignments may include helping the stroke patient restore function and ability, providing range of motion and flexibility exercises for hospice or bed bound patients or speech therapy for children with disabilities such as Autism.  Working with patients in the familiarity and comfort of their own home may also increase patient compliance with the treatment objectives. Another perk is ensuring that at the very least, your patient will show up for treatment.

Fast Facts*:

• Average Home Health Physical Therapist Salary: $54,000
• Average Home Health Occupational Therapist Salary: $53,000
• Average Home Health Speech Language Pathologist salary: $59,000

A travel physical therapist, travel  occupational therapist or travel speech language pathologist working in home health will see several patients in the course of their 6-8 hour work day. With an expanding population of patients requiring home health rehabilitation services, there is a growing demand for rehabilitation therapists, including those in travel careers. Recruiters are accepting applications from both new and experienced physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech language pathologists who prefer working with patients in the privacy and comfort of their own home. If this is you, be sure and visit our “apply now” page and get matched with a travel agency that best fits your needs.

*Simplyhired.com; salaries vary based on therapist experience and location of assignment.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

What was once called “alternative” or eastern medicine has come a long way here in the west.  Practitioners are now looking beyond simple slicing, dicing and drugging and seeing the whole patient versus an assembly of parts.  I can personally attest to the prevalence of this philosophy in nursing practice, where the concepts of holistic or complementary medicine started as one aspect of a nursing school education and are now rooted in it.

Rehabilitation therapists have many unique opportunities to incorporate concepts of holistic and complementary medicine into their practice.  The very basis of physical and occupational therapy, assisting a patient in restoring function and quality of life, requires looking at the patient as a whole person and integrating their mind body and spirit.  The rehab therapist looks at the effect of the patient injury or disability, even if it seemingly just affects one body part, on all aspects of the patient’s health, their personal life and work. Building on this expertise, a variety of complementary medicine modalities that may be career opportunities for rehabilitation therapists are gaining popularity.

• Music Therapy: playing a musical instrument can improve a patient’s fine motor function in their fingers, hands and wrists; listening to classical music has been proven to elicit relaxation effects in patients, particularly in times of pain (useful for PT sessions)

• Art Therapy: a useful method of psychotherapy with a proven ability to improve the patient’s cognitive abilities

• Animal-Assisted “Pet” Therapy: Specially trained animals can work alongside the trained therapist to improve patients’ fine motor skills, balance and develop recreation skills; excellent opportunity for the pet loving occupational therapist.

• Therapeutic Touch or other Energy Therapies: A perfect adjunct for the rehabilitation therapy industry, which relies so much on hands-on guiding, supporting and demonstrating movement to the patient.

The objectives of these modalities share the main objective of traditional physical and occupational therapy, to improve the patient’s functional ability. Some of these areas may require special training for the already certified therapist or traveling physical or occupational therapist interesting in exploring opportunities on the road.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

As a briefly aspiring little figure skater, I was thrilled when my parents took me to see the Ice Capades, starring Olympic gold medalist and superstar Dorothy Hamill. I was so inspired by Ms. Hamill’s performance that my mom says I slept with a souvenir button from the show pinned to my pajamas and promptly bought a Dorothy Hamill doll.  The doll ultimately outlasted my figure skating ambitions, but for many young children those dreams of athletic superstardom never fade.  Each day, committed kids across the country wake up early and put their little bodies through the paces of demanding athletic and fitness regimens, all in the hopes of making their Olympic or professional sports dreams come true someday.

I will admit that growing up, watching kids my age compete in the Olympics was very exciting.  Later in life after studying the way the human body works, however, the glamour wore off a bit.  I started seeing those little, actively growing bodies hurling through the air over and over and landing on one leg, as injuries waiting to happen.

The increasing number of stress fractures physical therapists are seeing and clinicians are studying in child and adolescent athletes, seems to validate my concerns.  A 2006 study* of stress fractures in competitive child athletes (subjects with actively developing skeletal systems) concluded that the majority of stress fractures in younger athletes are seen in the lower extremities.  Endurance sports and sports requiring “sudden stops” contributed to the poorest clinical outcomes.

The role of the physical therapist in treating these injuries includes working on range of motion exercises on the affected body parts, core strength and non-weight bearing exercises in a swimming pool.  The physical therapist will also encourage their young patient not to jump right back into their usual rigorous athletic and fitness routine, but to take it slow so they don’t re-injure themselves.

Skilled physical therapists and therapists working in travel PT jobs, have a unique opportunity to help competitive young athletes recover from injury safely and get back in the game again.  And with kids begging their parents to get in the game earlier and earlier in life, ongoing research in the area of pediatric stress fractures and other sports-related injuries will certainly have an impact on the physical therapy industry.

*Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, August 2006

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh RN, BSN

The valuable role of physical therapy in restoring mobility and quality of life for post-operative patients, those with chronic conditions that affect mobility and general function, and patients recovering from injuries is not limited hospital rehabilitation units. There are career opportunities for physical therapists, including traveling physical therapists, in many different clinical settings. Each setting offers a new way to stretch your skills and build your resume.

Here are some of the various clinical settings with potential career opportunities for physical therapists. Contact your travel rehabilitation agency recruiter to find out what is available at your goal destinations.

Hospitals and Medical Centers: Depending on the size of the facility, the physical therapy department of a hospital can be anything from an office to a large space that resembles fitness gym meets playground. In hospital settings, physical therapists treat a variety of patients including post-operative hip and knee replacements, recovering stroke patients, and children and young adults with athletic injuries.

Home Health Care: Physical therapists with the experience and qualifications to work in patient’s homes are typically the most well paid in the profession (avg. $2k+ median salary). The type of patients seen in their home are often similar to those seen in long term care facilities as well as those who would normally be seen in doctor’s offices but lack transportation.

Long Term Care Facilities: One of the major therapeutic goals for residents of nursing homes and other long term skilled nursing facilities is to maintain as much function, mobility, balance and overall quality of life as possible. This is an ideal career option for physical therapists who enjoy the satisfaction of contributing to a patient’s well-being and celebrating each day.

Physician’s Offices: Aging baby boomers who haven’t quite realized that they’re not resilient 20-somethings anymore, make for a growing supply of “weekend warrior” injuries seen in doctor’s offices. Physical therapists play an important role in getting these patients back on their feet again, restoring function and teaching them how to use assistive devices such as walkers and crutches.

Physical Therapy Clinics: Examples of rehab patients that a physical therapist will see in a private practice outpatient clinic include children and adults with chronic conditions and diseases such as multiple sclerosis as well as follow through care for patients recently released from the hospital who still require additional rehabilitation.

Schools: Many schools will employ or contract physical therapists to work with patients with childhood/hereditary disabilities. An important aspect of this type of physical therapy career is the emphasis on following a regimented course of treatment, meeting measurable, scheduled milestones in the child’s treatment and communicating results to parents on a regular basis.

With a variety of clinical settings in need of physical therapists, both experienced and new grads, this type of career flexibility, might be one of the reasons that a career as a physical therapist has been ranked as one of the “best careers” for 2009 in several national prestigious surveys.*

Travel physical therapists: Tell us about your experiences working in various clinical settings.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh RN, BSN

As an orthopedic nurse, I always had a great deal of respect and admiration for the physical therapists who worked with my patients, especially post-operatively. When patients came into my care following complex surgical procedures such as total hip replacements, total knee replacements and spinal surgery, they were acutely ill, attached to a myriad of pumps and machines, immobile and required skill nursing care for every basic need. It always astounded me how, under the care of physical therapists these same patients would be walking circles around the nurse’s station within days.

Watching the therapists work with my patients, I realized early in my nursing career that this is definitely a therapeutic relationship where the patient and provider work together in reaching a defined set of rehabilitation goals. The challenge, of course, is convincing the patient of this. Post-operative orthopedic patients are usually in severe pain from surgical trauma and incisions, exhausted from large amounts of pain medication and the last thing they want to do is get out of bed and go for a walk. Believe me I feel for all you physical therapists because I see the patient’s reaction when you walk in their room – not exactly a ticker tape parade in your honor, is it? Physical therapy and the resulting restoration of mobility is vital in post-operative patients for medical reasons like preventing blood clots in the legs and also for emotional and psychological reasons such as allowing the patient to feel “normal” again.

Again – I top my nursing hat (in a metaphorical Florence Nightingale sort of way) to all physical therapists for their vital role in restoring a patient’s mobility and quality of life.

Travel Physical Therapists: What have been the most rewarding experiences you’ve had working with post-operative patients across the country in various clinical settings?

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh RN, BSN

Building a strong patient-provider relationship with the parents of a child with a disability is one of the most important bonds a rehabilitation therapist can develop. The care giving parent has a finely tuned radar of their child’s behaviors, responses and tendencies. Parents can be excellent barometers for the physical therapist, occupational therapist and speech pathologist of how well the child’s therapy goals are being met. For the travel physical therapist, travel occupational therapist or travel speech pathologist parents can be a vital source of background information on a new patient.

I recently spoke with the mother of a 10 year old boy with autism. She is a self-described, extremely hands-on mom who has always been a very active partner in her son Jonathan’s rehabilitation therapy. Jonathan has worked with physical therapists and speech therapists, some who have traveled to the family’s home for rehabilitation therapy.

What are some things you like the best about the rehabilitation therapists who have worked with your son?

Patience is very important. I obviously also like it when the therapist is a nice person. However I also need them to be strict and firm with my son because that’s how I am with him. Don’t baby him. Be a good nice person but lay down a firm hand when you have to.

I like it when he learns a lot from his therapists. I can see a big difference when my child has learned a lot from someone or if they haven’t. If at the end of the school year, they’re the same child they were at the beginning of the year, and nothing has changed, then I won’t be all that impressed with the physical therapist, speech therapist, or whomever Jonathan is working with throughout the year.

In general, I think it’s all about who loves their job and loves what they do.  It’s important for someone to really have the experience, patience and take the time to teach my child new things. I like when therapists take the time to observe my son, learn how he behaves and how he has a certain way of doing things. You really need to take the time to sit there and observe the child, instead of just expecting that he will behave like a “typical” autistic child.

I also like when they make an effort to involve me in the treatment progress. For example, a speech therapist is currently using a new speech device with Jonathan. Every time she sees me at school, she stops and tells me all about the speech therapy sessions. I like that involvement. When the therapists show me how my son is doing I get excited too.

What are some things you like the least about some of the therapists who have worked with Jonathan?

I can always tell if my son does not like a therapist or if he’s not happy and comfortable with them. It’s easy to see when a therapist is lacking in their job skills, when my son is not learning anything from them, or when they’re not being as good or as patient with Jonathan as they should be. The bottom line and most important thing, is that whether my son is comfortable with the therapist. If he’s not – I’m not.

What advice would you give physical therapists, occupational therapists or speech therapists about working with children with disabilities?

It’s very important to be who you are as a person and make sure that you communicate well with the child. You need to have some kind of relationship with the child. I always tell the therapists to make sure you get to know my son, build a relationship and that you have to make him trust you. You need to let him know that you can trust him. Let the child know that you know him and you understand his ways and behaviors. Also, a lot of children with disabilities can sense when a therapist is new (to the field) and they try to get away with things. You have to be firm.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.