Clemson University Summer 2016 PT Internship

1. A N N A D AV I S
ROGER C. PEACE REHABILITATION
HOSPITAL INTERNSHIP

2. ABOUT
• RCPRH is a 53 bed hospital that offers easy access to emergency care,
diagnostic services, and the latest technology and innovative
techniques through research and development.
• RCPRH offers outpatient, inpatient, and acute care services.
• There is an interdisciplinary team approach consisting of physical
therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, recreational
therapists, clinical psychologists, and medical doctors.
• RCPRH is approved by the Commission on Accreditation of
Rehabilitation Facilities

3. GOALS
• Roger C. Peace’s goals are, "To provide the latest
rehabilitative and technological services with
compassion and encouragement, to help motivate
patients and to assist them in re-entering the community
as smoothly and as quickly as possible.”

4. INPATIENT REHABILITATION
• During my internship at RCPRH, I spent my time
working with physical therapy on the third floor in the
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Unit.
• The TBI Unit treats patients who have experienced a
traumatic brain injury resulting from things such as car
motor vehicle accidents, falls, brain surgeries, strokes,
etc.
• Patients admitted to the inpatient TBI Unit are required
to receive 3 hours of therapies per day
• Therapies received include: PT, ST, OT, RT, and PSYCH
• Each session lasts 45 minutes and may repeat twice in one day

5. TBI UNIT PHYSICAL THERAPY
• Physical therapy for TBI patients
focuses mainly on rehabilitation of the
lower extremities through
strengthening exercises, stretching,
and gait practice.
• Common goals for patients in PT
consist of:
• Improving a patients’ overall mobility
depending on their initial level of
functioning
• Improving a patient’s ability to transfer
from one place to another, for example
from their wheelchair to a bed
• Regain ability to walk with or without
assistive devices
• Improve balance to reduce fall risks

6. MY ROLES
• There were several roles I
consistently performed daily
without instruction:
• Disinfecting items after use by
patients during their sessions
• Assisting therapists in patient
transfers
• Retrieving items for therapists for use
during patient treatment
• Follow patients with their wheelchair
while they’re practicing gait
• Deep cleaning of discharged patients’
wheelchairs for new patients’ use
• Disposing of linens after patient use
• Keeping the therapy gym stocked
with medical equipment

7. IN-SERVICES
• Comfort Company In-service
• Drive Medical In-service
• Awareness In-service

8. THE COMFORT COMPANY
• The Comfort Company provides a variety of wheelchair
cushions and backs. This in-service served to educate the
therapist on the newest products available. It’s
important to assure patients are getting quality comfort
and the proper support by their chair.

9. DRIVE MEDICAL COMPANY
• Drive is a company that provides a wide variety of pressure relief
mattresses, wheelchairs, wheelchair backs, and wheelchair cushions. The
main focus of this in-service was to educate therapists on how to qualify
their patients for the best products through insurance. A common problem
therapists run into is not knowing how to code a patients’ condition
properly in order to get the appropriate assistive devices and accessories.

10. PTS + WHEELCHAIRS
Before my internship, I had no idea what went
into fitting a patient to the proper wheelchair for
their condition. The physical therapists are
responsible for choosing the most appropriate
wheelchair for each patient. I learned that
wheelchair fitting depends primarily on a
patient’s mobility, presence of bed sores, ability
to support oneself, height, and weight. Between
working on the wheelchair closet organization,
observing patient fitting, and attending
wheelchair company in-services, I was able to
gain more knowledge about the complex nature
of wheelchairs and their importance in patient
well-being. Without this knowledge, I would
not have been able to successfully retrieve
specific wheelchairs and wheelchair accessories
requested by the therapists.

11. TBI PATIENT AWARENESS
• This in-service was conducted by an outpatient ST. The main goal of her
presentation was to educate therapists of methods and strategies that can be
used to help patients become aware of their deficits in order to strengthen and
improve. This turned into an open discussion between STs, PTs, OTs, RTs,
PSYCH, and other staff members. As an observer listening to the information
presented and the feedback from staff, this in-service seemed to be very
informative and helpful for all of the staff who attended.

12. SUPPORT DEVICES EDUCATION
• Lori Godbee, the physical therapist I primarily worked with was
asked to educate nursing assistants on proper use of braces and
supportive devices commonly used for TBI patients. I was able to
participate in the learning demonstration and learn a lot about the
various devices.

13. PROJECTS
• Case Study
• Wheelchair Closet
• Home Exercise Program
• Stroke Support Block Construction
• All projects are included in their entirety on portfolio

14. CASE STUDY
• As a physical therapy intern, I was
required to complete a case study. For
this study, I chose a patient to follow
throughout their course of care from
admittance to discharge. The main
focuses of this study were to identify
the patient’s medical status, write
weekly goals for physical therapy,
keep record of daily exercises and
activities performed, and evaluate the
progress made throughout the
patient’s care. The complete case study
and illustrations can be found on my
portfolio under projects.
*Patient consent given for pictures*

15. WHEELCHAIR CLOSET
• One of my main active roles during my internship was to clean
discharged patients’ wheelchairs, return the wheelchairs and their
footrests back into the closet, keep the closet organized by number
and type of wheelchair, and occasionally retrieve footrests, chairs,
headrests, and other various accessories for therapists.

16. HOME EXERCISE PROGRAM
• In order to actively learn about how a therapist decides which type
of rehabilitation exercises to send a patient home with, I decided to
create a sample home exercise program for the patient I did my case
study on. The therapist I was with provided me with a booklet of
exercises commonly used by TBI patients, and I was able to choose
from that booklet which exercises I thought would be most
appropriate for this particular patient.

17. STROKE SUPPORT BLOCKS
• The therapy gym was running low on support blocks used by stroke
patients during their sessions, so I was given a sample block and
asked to construct additional blocks using given material. These
blocks are used by hemiplegia patients to support their weak arm
during sitting so they can have adequate support to maintain an
upright position during certain exercises.