My foray into acute care was bumpy. After a stressful fieldwork II experience at a hospital, which I barely passed, I swore off acute care, telling myself I just didn’t possess the natural abilities needed for it. I came back to it later after having two years of experience at a SNF, which provided me with some medical knowledge and confidence as a therapist. I applied for per diem positions for a full year before finally getting hired.
In the hospital, you are part of the medical team consisting of many healthcare professionals, which is responsible for treatment and safe discharge of the patient. In the hospital, a therapist’s role is primarily acting as a movement specialist and preparing the patient for an appropriate discharge placement. Here are members of your team, their roles, and how you can help as a therapist. Nursing Role in a nutshell - Responsible for a patient’s wellbeing and executing doctor’s treatment orders while in the hospital.
Before you work with a patient, chart review the vitals range set by the doctor in the patient’s managed orders. The appropriate vitals range will vary from patient to patient. For example, stroke patients may be given permissive hypertension ranges whereas aortic aneurysm repairs may have a lower systolic BP limit. Eventually, you will begin to learn which diagnoses typically have special vitals parameters. Vital parameters may also be written in the physician notes and not updated yet in the managed orders, so it is important to contact the medical team if the orders are not consistent with the doctors notes.
I was engaged with about 5 months or so before my wedding date and was working in the ICU. There was a lady in her 20s admitted to the hospital because an organ was failing and she needed medical support while waiting for an organ transplant. As that primary organ failed, other organs started having issues as well. She was intubated and placed in a medical coma. The day I saw her for an evaluation, she was extubated and the doctors started weaning her sedation.
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