Swan’s Ugly Ducklings

Tamara, Lacey, Tate, Annette, Raimee, Monique, Liz, Tanyia, & Kay

 

     Have I mentioned what a great place  I work for?  SWAN Rehab (South West Advanced Neurological Rehab) is an outpatient neuro clinic.  We specialize in all things neuro.  The majority of our patients have had a Stroke or a Brain Injury.
     Tanyia and I started about the same time and Monique has been our OT mentor.  (Monique was my clinical instructor for my fieldwork time.)  Sadly she is moving on to another setting to broaden her experience at an acute trauma hospital.  Tonight the whole clinic got together for dinner to wish her a farewell.

 

     I’m so thankful for all that I’ve learned from Monique about how to continue the stroke recovery process and all of her out of the box ideas.  It won’t be the same without her!

WE are HEALth SoUth

I have been working for HealthSouth Rehab for almost 4 years (since I moved to Phoenix).  I work there per diem a couple of days a week (which means that I give my availability and they schedule me when they need the extra help).  It is an Acute Rehab in-patient hospital.  Last week was National Rehab Week.  It was fun to celebrate with all the Rehab docs, nurses, therapists, and patients.

School Rotation

Today was my last day of fieldwork in the schools.  Melissa, and Jan took me out for lunch to celebrate.  It was a fun rotation.  My home school was a pre-K though 8th grade, so I got a good variety.  When I started in January I thought that the pre-school was the hardest, but by half way through I really got a routine down and looked forward to my pre-school day.  Melissa is a COTA that works with Jan and she had lots of fun ideas on how to collaborate with the teachers and help her kiddoes progress.  Jan was my clinical instructor and shared a wealth of resources on treating pediatrics.  She had worked for years in Rehab and had recently made the switch to the school system.  I learned a lot during this assignment and put together a great resource file box for if I ever work in peds again.  I’m sure to use the sensory techniques I learned in my next assignment with my neuro patients.

April is OT Month!

Ever wonder what is Occupational Therapy?

"The person who needs occupational therapy could be your father or mother facing changes because of aging. It could be your child, frustrated with being unable to do the seemingly simple things the other children at school can do. It could be you or your spouse coping with illness or the results of an accident. It could be anyone who, for whatever reason, can't do the things in life they want or need to do."

"Occupational therapy is therapy based on performing the meaningful activities of daily life (self-care skills, education, work, or social interaction), especially to enable or enhance participation in such activities despite impairments or limitations in physical or mental functioning.* Occupational therapy is for individuals of all ages-to improve skills that help them perform daily tasks at home and at school, at work and at play."

See AOTA.org for more info on what it is that I do and that I'm learning about.