Question about me and PT

Nursing Students General Students

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I have a question....

I got my yearly evaluation from work and it has a page where comments can be written. All of the comments from the boss were positive except one: "in the future when asked for assitance from any PT staff, please assist, as this is part of your job".

Ok, well about a month ago I was really busy with several patients that were incontinent. One of the Physical Therapists came to the floor and asked me for help with a patient...fine, I went, I got all 250 pounds of her up and into a chair while Ms PT just watched me! This has happened many times.

About 20 mins later she told me not to go too far as she needed help with another patient....(total hip replacement)

I asked her where her partner was and she said she wasn't available. (not true, she was in a nearby room talking) anyway, the same routine...I did all the bending, lifting and straining and she supervised.

Now I was mad!:devil:

After leaving the room, I asked her if she was going to help sometime today...??? I told her I am not yet trained to properly move these patients and I can't get them up all by myself..I need her help. She then told me that she hurt her back 2 years ago and she can't lift or bend.

UGH!!!!!!:(

Well then what are you here for????????

The other thing that makes me mad is that they come to the floor and get the patients up and into chairs and then never come back and put them to bed! They never bother to tell us how to do this, they just disappear! Never to be heard from again!

Ok, enough complaining........:eek:

My question is, if I do not know the proper way to transfer a patient, then should I do it?? Even if I am told to do it?? Can I say NO????

I did walk away from her that day when she asked me for "help" the third time. I was angry and muttered to myself something about her making 5x's more than me, and not wanting to end up with a back like hers!

SO what do ya do????? HEEEEELLLLLLLPPP!!!!!!!

I am planning to talk to my boss Monday, but I need some feedback.

Thanks for letting me vent!

:confused:

Hi.. I work on an Ortho floor and this happens ALL the time... I WILL NOT try to move a pt. by myself... Sorry I would like to keep my back... PT is good at not workin very hard... If they won't help, then you tell them to wait until you find someone to help.... And if they don't like it.. TOUGH!!!

Sounds like a PT in our school system that is supposed to be there to stretch the handicapped children that sit all day in a wheel chairs. We lift we put them on the cots to be stretched and if she touches them it's a miracle. A major part of her caseload is tracking the children which means, tell us what to do with them and I (PT) don't have to touch them. She gets paid MEGA bucks to do this too. We've documented and she knows we aren't pleased with her little pop up visits to check all of us out. Amazing how some people earn their living.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

I've worked ortho as a LPN for 8 years, and noone should ever try to move or turn a patient unless they have been trained to do this properly. You risk losing a new joint and a whole list of other problems if it is done wrong. Not to mention your own back health and possibly a malpractice claim against you. There shouldnt be anyone off orientation that hasnt been taught how to move a ortho patient safely.

If your PT person has been injured and cant lift she shouldnt be there on the floor doing anything.

There are ways to turn and pull up patients safely with one person, but unless you know what you are doing dont try it.

It does happen that people come off orientation without knowing the proper way to handle patients, but hopefully they will never do anything that they arent sure of. Even experienced people have to ask questions about things now and then. So dont feel bad about stating your position and sticking to it.

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