PHTA 1120 Syllabus

Subject Code

PHTA

Course Number

1120

Course Title

Patient Care Skills

Prerequisites

PHTA 1110 with a grade of C or higher, PHTA 1130 with a grade of C or higher

Corequisites

Terms Offered

Offered Spring

Credit Hours

(1-6-3)

Course Description

This course introduces students to basic patient care skills and administrative tasks in physical therapy. Topics include patient care skills, principles of teaching and learning, documentation skills, and administrative and management tasks.

Course Outcomes

Documentation

  • Discuss the importance of documentation.
  • Describe the essential components of documentation.
  • Discuss different formats of documentation.
  • Describe documentation that follows professional guidelines and other regulatory agencies and specific documentation formats required by various physical therapy practice settings and health care systems.
  • Discuss requirements related to confidentiality.
  • Discuss legal responsibilities associated with documentation.

Management Skills

  • Discuss professional and clinical setting policies and procedures for management in physical therapy.
  • Discuss the importance of quality assurance and risk management.
  • Discuss the importance of time management.
  • Demonstrate skill in scheduling patients for treatment appointments.
  • Describe various methods of reimbursement for treatment interventions.
  • Discuss facility procedures and payer regulations associated with different health care delivery systems and practice settings.
  • Discuss federal and state legal practice standards and institutional regulations related to fiscal management.

Principles of Teaching and Learning

  • Promote psych-social principles in self-understanding and in developing communication with patients' families, the public, and other health team members.
  • Demonstrate effective instruction to the patient and others to achieve the goals and outcomes as described in the plan of care.
  • Effectively educate others using teaching methods commensurate with the needs of the learners.

Patient Care Skills

  • Discuss purpose of draping and demonstrate proper draping techniques.
  • Discuss importance of proper positioning and demonstrate and give rationale proper positioning techniques.
  • List areas which are prone to decubitus ulcers.
  • Discuss the importance of posture in good body mechanics.
  • Demonstrate and apply proper body mechanics.
  • Describe the types of transfers and explain rationale for each transfer.
  • Demonstrate safe and effective transfer techniques.
  • Describe levels of assistance required for transfers.
  • Demonstrate skill in assessment of orientation.
  • Demonstrate skill in assessment of anthropometrical characteristics.
  • Demonstrate skill in measurement of vital signs.
  • Discuss physiology, characteristics, and normal values of vital signs.
  • Discuss factors that cause changes in vital signs.
  • Describe the various types of assistive gait devices.
  • Demonstrate proper measuring and fitting techniques of available assistive gait devices.
  • Demonstrate proper gait sequence for available assistive gait devices.
  • Demonstrate proper guarding techniques.