Group items tagged

This article discusses three types of clinical reasoning often used with occupational therapy practitioners. These types include scientific, narrative, and pragmatic. The main questions brought up by the authors were what is clinical reasoning and how does it influence practice?, what can we do to increase clinical reasoning skills?, and do views of clinical reasoning work in the reality of practice?. Aspects that influence use of clinical reasoning included the therapists views of OT, therapists life knowledge, ability to carry out treatments, and interest in patients and profession. It is important to understand what types of clinical reasoning are being utilized in particular practice contexts in order to help with the creation of staff and self development models.

This qualitative study adds to the limited knowledge of OT practitioners in the rural settings.The study gave view points that OT's in the rural setting are not just generalists. This search went under the category of professionalism as this is a behavior that changes with the setting and population that you deal with.

This qualitative study adds to the limited knowledge of OT practitioners in the rural settings.The study gave view points that OT's in the rural setting are not just generalists. This search went under the category of professionalism as this is a behavior that changes with the setting and population that you deal with.

This article discusses professionalism, and is a speech delivered diruing the 2010 Frances Rutherford Lecture in New Zealand. We as OT practitioners have the responsibility to promote and embrace the principles of our practice. We are responsible for how the public views our profession. Our actions should take root in the principle that taking part in occupations benefits the health and well-being of our patients. The author states that our professional responsibility is to always question and examine our role in healthcare, so that we can grow and practice in the most meaningful way.

Using interviews, researchers looked at how OT's viewed their clients and how they managed their pain. Both positive and negative themes emerged including: losing valued roles, having depression and receiving compensation and to knowing: being fearful, looking for a cure or not knowing what to expect, being unable to set goals and being unable to use strategies. OT's reported that client's acceptance and desire to change played a large role in management.

This is a forum entry about implementing evidence-based practice within the VA. I found this interesting since evidence-based practice is something that not all OT's follow but we learn a lot about in school. The article talks about how some believe in evidence and some believe in clinical experience. This is probably an issue that will always be around, but reading different points of view is always helpful as we become OT's.

This article is a study that investigated occupational therapy students' perspective on professionalism. Themes about professionalism emerged and were discussed in the study that I thought might be interesting to read to see how they correlate with each of our thoughts about professionalism.

Understanding a student's view on professionalism, may help fieldwork educators to identify teaching and research opportunities, in order to, help students succeed and better prepare them for entry level positions after graduation.

This document provides a definition for supervision: viewed as a cooperative process in which two or more people participate in a joint effort to establish, maintain and or elevate the level of competence and performance. The authors add that supervision is based on a mutual understanding between the supervisor and supervisee about each other's competence, experience, education and credentials. For me, it was interesting that the authors indicated that supervision is supposed to promote growth, encourage creativity and innovation. Thus, if your relationship with your supervisor does not reflect this then you may want to meet and discuss this document.

This article discusses the general supervision guidelines for OTs and OTAs. It is broken down into four sections which cover general supervision, supervision of OTs and OTAs, roles and responsibilities, and supervision of OT aides. Supervision is defined at a joint effort to establish, maintain, or elevate competence and performance. The article urges OTs to seek mentorship as supervision to maintain competency and increase knowledge. Delegation of tasks to OTAs by OTs should be done with regard to the complexity of the client's needs/the intervention technique, the practice setting, and state/agency requirements.

This is a great example of a future study that will consider the psychosocial aspect of individuals after a musculoskeletal injury and subsequent occupational therapy intervention. The study focuses on hand injuries and this type of injury is extremely relevant to my current clinical setting which is an outpatient hand clinic. The studies primary outcome measure is return to work vs no return to work. The secondary outcome measures focus on psychosocial questioners, work environment, demographics, and motor and sensory testing. This is a great idea for a study that would take into account the psychosocial aspect of the individuals with hand injuries and see if there is any correlation with returning to work.

The number of residents in long-term nursing facilities with dementia and cognitive impairments is continuing to increase each year. Many studies have shown decreases in quality of life for residents with these diagnoses. This article studies the effects of animal assisted therapy compared to human interactions on social behaviors and engagement among elderly patients with dementia in a long-term care facility. Patients were randomly divided into two groups, a group with human interactions and a group with animal assisted therapy. The study was conducted over a two-week period of time. The human interaction group consisted on one-on-one time with general conversation and reading and looking at pictures in the newspaper. The animal assisted therapy group consisted of petting, brushing and talking to the dogs. Data was collected using the Demographic and Pet History Questionnaire and the Social Behaviors checklist. The results showed that animal assisted therapy had a positive impact on social behaviors and increased engagement in activities, while also decreasing incidents requiring staff members.

This article outlines five steps to achieve professionalism in order to demonstrate that you have respect for your employer, your co-workers, as well as yourself. Oftentimes, individuals can demonstrate professionalism during the interviewing process or when meeting with individuals in higher management. However, professionalism should be practiced on a daily basis. There are various ways to demonstrate professionalism within the workplace, including but not limited to, dressing appropriately, respecting others, and actively engaging in learning experiences. The first step to demonstrating professionalism includes looking the part. First impressions are lasting impressions, and an individual's attire sends a message to others concerning how serious they are about their work. Secondly, a professional should always use proper grammar, regardless of the type of communication. In addition, individuals should seek additional tasks and challenges as a means to show responsibility as well as a desire to succeed and grow within their company. Professionals should show respect toward others in all interactions regardless of whether it is a consumer, co-worker, or upper management. Lastly, part of demonstrating professionalism includes admitting any mistakes or mishaps. A willingness to admit one's mistakes takes courage; however, these individuals are often more cautious employees.

This website talks about professionalism and 5 steps to achieve professionalism. These steps are as follows: look the part, grammar is essential, tasks and challenges should be approached head on, show respect towards others, and accepting accountability for mishaps or mistakes. I believe these are good tips to achieve professionalism.

This resource shares 5 simple ways to increase professionalism. These ways include dressing appropriately and having proper hygiene. WHO and the CDC have different guidelines for hygiene so it is important to know and understand the appearance policies for the facility you are interviewing/working for. The use of proper grammar and communication skills in all forms of communication (written or verbal) is essential. It is also important to face challenges head on and to view challenging circumstances as learning opportunities. Always showing respect for others even in times of disagreement will show that you can handle yourself in a professional manner. The final suggestion was to always accept responsibility for mistakes.

This article aimed to draw together findings based on the experiences of supervisors and supervisees in the discipline of occupational therapy (Sweeney et al 2001a,b) and to provide recommendations for the future practice of supervision within the profession. Results discussed suggest that supervision as it is currently practiced within OT is not a comfortable experience for either the supervisor or the supervisee; there is evidence that a confusion exists within both parties about the process of supervision and questions the view that supervision is always a helpful process. The article recommends steps that can be adopted by both (supervisors and supervisees) to facilitate the development of a more productive relationship. For example, the use of training, exposure to theories and models of supervision, and the use of agendas, contracts and feedback have shown to be helpful in the improvement.

This study aims to discover the impacts of an occupational therapy driving intervention with returning combat veterans. A single-subject design with three phases was used and conducted by a certified driving rehabilitation specialist. The three phases included a baseline pre-test, intervention with three 1-hr training sessions, and a post-test. Participants were recruited from several VA clinical in northern Florida. Inclusion criteria for participants included service in OEF or OIF, presence of a mTBI or orthopedic injury with PTSD, participation in driving prior to medical condition, valid driver's license residence in community, score of a least 24/30 on Mini-Mental State Examination. Outcome measures included the OT-CDRS and Optec 2500 for visual abilities, Useful Field of View for visual attention and processing speed, MMSE for general cognitive abilities, Trail-Making Test Part B for shifting, foot tap test for peddle control in car and right lower extremity ROM. One subject was selected and showed improvements in outcome measures. The subject showed improvements in visual search skills post-intervention. Patient also showed improvements in his appropriateness of searching skills post-intervention. Patient was also shown to improve on his on-road communication skills and recognition of need to inform other road users of intended actions. Although there were improvements in the veterans driving abilities, the threats to internal validity pose limitations to the study. The investigators intend to use data and address limitations in the hopes of conducting a random-controlled trial with more participants.

Thompson, L., Dawson, K., Ferdig, R., Black, E., Boyer, J., Coutts, J., & Black, N. (2008). The intersection of online social networking with medical professionalism. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23(7), 954-957. This study examined the frequency and content of online social networking among medical students and residents. The results revealed that 44.5% of the medical trainees in this study had Facebook accounts. Only a third of these accounts were made private. Many of these accounts were publicly accessible, had personally identifiable information, and displayed potentially unprofessional material. The authors conclude that it is important for for students to receive education about the intersection of personal and professional identities. As we begin our professional careers, I think this topic is important for us to keep in mind. There could be ramifications of sharing personal information publicly. We may not be accepted for a job, or we could even be fired if information on our public profiles displays unprofessional behavior. Publicly displaying unprofessional behavior can affect the way we are viewed by our employers and by our clients. I found it surprising that so many of the students in this study had publicly accessible profiles, and I think we should all consider reviewing our profiles, deleting potentially unprofessional content, and making our information private.

This article, published in 1987, discusses the perspective of occupational therapy practice of that day and the issues it faced to uphold its professional status. It also provides some insight into the fact that, although we, as future occupational therapists, view OT as a profession, many people outside of our profession have never even heard of occupational therapy or do not consider it a profession.