Lauren Sullivan

4/22/14
NURS 210
Rehab Hospital Reflection
On Thursday, April 17, 2014 I shadowed a physical therapist (PT)
and an occupational therapist (OT) at Rehabilitation Hospital of the
Pacific. In the morning time I worked along side a PT, in which I
watched her help patients with hip surgeries, brain injuries, knee
replacements, and deconditioned from an acute hospital. During my
shift with the PT, I was also able to observe with a couple RNs who
collaborated with my PT. My PT and I met with a patient for her final
evaluation before she was to be discharged. The patients sister
informed us that her sister was feeling weak and her quality of life had
decreased due to the blood pressure (BP) meds that she had been
receiving over the past couple of days. The PT had also mentioned that
the patient typically soars through her sessions. After our session
started the patient had ambulated with a walker for about 50 feet
before she became restless. Her sister had recommended that the PT
take her BP and heart rate. The PT used an automated BP machine that
was nearby and it showed the patients BP and heart rate were
extremely low from her baseline. The PT gathered the patients nurses
to double-check in which, they confirmed the patient was hypotensive
with a BP of 92/56 and an apical pulse of 62. We discontinued the

session and the nurses had informed the patient that they were going
to call her doctor to reduce the dosage of her BP meds. This session
had provided me with the perfect observation of collaboration between
healthcare team members and a patients family.
In both my PT and OT sessions I observed patient education
within each session. The therapists informed the patient of the exercise
they were going to perform, then demonstrated the exercise, and
finally the number of times the patient was going to perform the
exercise. In one session my PT had used a visual handout along with
demonstrations for an elderly woman with a bilateral knee
replacement. The pictures on the handout were very large, in which it
helped the patient to see and have a better understanding of what
exercises she was performing. The rest of the session went smooth and
the patient was able to keep the handout so she could continue
performing the exercises outside of PT.
Safety is an important and recognized skill in all healthcare
facilities but more so in a rehab facility because patients are at higher
risk for falls. I was able to observe safety measures in both my PT and
OT sessions because all of the patients had knee precautions, hip
precautions, or difficulty with balance due to a brain injury. In one
session my OT had gathered a PT for assistance because the patient
was very tall and was heavy set. During the session, the OT and PT
stood on each side of the patient while he performed weighted arm

exercises. With a therapist on each side of the patient they were able
to properly support him while he was standing and as he was trying to
sit down. A two-man assist was not a new safety skill I learned but
previously I had only seen the skill used to roll a patient in bed and not
throughout a therapy session.
My clinical shift at the rehab hospital was similar and different to
the session we had with KCCs OT/PT program. One difference I noticed
was the OTs at the rehab hospital focused more on exercises that used
fine motor skills. In the KCC OT session I felt we focused more on the
tools used during therapy sessions. A similarity I noticed between the
rehab hospital and KCC were the safety measures during ambulation.
Physical therapists in both locations kept constant communication with
the patient while they walked and kept their bodies right behind the
patient. Overall, the rehab hospital was completely different
experience because I was able to observe the therapists work with
actual patients and not just students. My clinical at the rehab hospital
helped me appreciate the work OTs and PTs do and also how effective a
collaborative care plan helps patients.