Provides instruction in patient care with an emphasis on physical therapy interventions. Covers massage, body mechanics, bed mobility and positioning, passive range of motion (PROM) exercise, transfers, gait training, patient and family education, and the use of wheelchairs and assistive devices. Guided laboratory setting.
Goals, Topics, and Objectives
- Body Mechanics/Positioning
- Medical Equipment
- Bed Mobility
- Massage
- Documentation of Therapeutic Procedures
- PROM
- Wheelchairs and Assistive Devices
- Transfers
- Gait
- Identify patient’s orientation to time, person, place, and situation.
- Identify activities, positioning, postures, and assistive devices that aggravate or relieve pain, can produce associated skin trauma, or other disturbed sensations.
- Identify pain behavior, soreness, and reaction during specific movements or activities.
- Utilize established questionnaires, graphs, behavioral scales, or visual analog scale for pain.
- Demonstrate proper body mechanics during all techniques learned in this course.
- Inspect and measure physical environment in preparation for bed mobility, transfers and gait.
- Demonstrate proper care and handling of various types of medical equipment (bed pans, IV’s, catheters, etc.) and be able to discuss the alternatives.
- Identify patient’s soft tissue restrictions utilizing passive range of motion.
- Identify safety factors while performing transfers, gait, locomotion, wheelchair management and mobility with and without assistive devices.
- Provide patient assistance during bed mobility, wheelchair mobility, transfers, gait and locomotion, using proper technique.
- Discuss and demonstrate proper use of the tilt table.
- Demonstrate proper wheelchair management and mobility.
- Assess the patient’s and/or caregiver’s ability to care for their assistive device(s).
- Measure appropriate components of assistive devices.
- Identify normal and abnormal gait characteristics and patterns with and without assistive devices.
- Identify the affects of various terrains, differing environments on patient’s gait and locomotion.
- Identify present and potential barriers and possible modifications for the environment, home, and/or work.
- Determine the need for adaptive/assistive devices for transfers, gait and locomotion, self-care, and home management techniques through communication and observation and offer recommendations.
- Discuss physiological benefits and identify adverse responses to connective and soft tissue massage techniques.
- Demonstrate, safely and correctly, a variety of manual therapy techniques to mobilize connective and soft tissues.
Assessment and Requirements
Students will assessed on a series of written exams, lab checkoffs, lab practical, written assignments and a final exam
Students must pass this course with a “B-” or better to remain in the PTA Program. They must also pass at least one of the written exams with an 80% or higher in order to pass this course. For each written exam the student does not pass, he/she will also be required to complete a written review of the exam to be submitted to the instructor prior to taking the final exam. Students must demonstrate competence in all of the lab checkoffs and practicals, according to the PTA program student handbook.
Instructors (or their designees) reserve the right to require students to provide picture identification for test taking, graded papers or projects or other appropriate purposes.
To be determined by Program Faculty