Life is full of lessons. We learn as we grow and develop from childhood. We learn to crawl, we learn to walk, and progress to more challenging movements like riding a bike.
As we progress through school we learn book based information such as reading, writing, math, history, and other concepts. We grow our body of knowledge more and more each year through school. We learn about the concepts and develop our personal future through trade school or college.
Learning does not stop at graduation
Usually we don’t realize it at the time, but learning does not stop at graduation. We need to take full advantage of each and every experience in our professional lives to make ourselves better. This is true regardless of the profession we choose.
This is especially true in the rehab world. You definitely do not hit the ground running as a good or even great therapist. It takes time and experience to develop skills and “feels” to truely be an effective therapist.
The only constant in healthcare is change
One thing is for certain, healthcare changes frequently. In order to be effective and successful you need to be adaptive to the environment and constantly continue to learn. Without education and training on the continual changes, which are frequently initiated by Medicare guidelines changes, we are left at a disadvantage. Unfortunately mostly there is a financial impact to a lack of education on the changes.
Leadership training
Leadership training is an important aspect of successful healthcare teams. Without good leadership it is impossible to be successful in such a restricted environment such as healthcare. This is not only true at management levels, but also at the therapist levels. Often times in therapy there are “teams” based on the discipline of therapy. These teams usually consist of a lead therapist and either secondary therapists or therapy assistants.
Training of lead therapists can significantly improve the collaboration and ultimately the resident outcomes. When a lead therapist has the skills to lead the team it can significantly improve outcome measures, follow through of plans of care, and improve discharge planning.
The transition from skilled therapy to home
For good carryover and continuation of all the hard work already put in, a transition plan needs to be established for the family to continue the rehab process. In order to achieve this goal we need to put on our teaching caps and teach both the resident and caregivers of what is appropriate to do after discharge from Skilled nursing.
So be proactive and read and learn every chance you get
Make it a point to further educate yourself. Be proactive and take the initiative to better yourself. Read books and peer review papers. Focus on changes in applications of treatment modalities, leadership training, and keep up to date with assets such as ADVION. You will thank yourself later.
