Thinking of Working in Post Acute Rehabilitation? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

If you’re geared towards the post acute care field of work, then you have a world of opportunities available at your fingertips. It’s a bright and promising career that has been proven to have stronger growth and faster hire rates than many other fields of industry. An overwhelming majority of the graduates in this field report that they obtain their first preferred choice of job within 3 months of their graduation. In this current economy, those numbers are almost unheard of.
Post acute rehabilitation is all about becoming redundant, as odd as that may sound. The job of a post acute care worker is to be no longer needed as you move the patient from a severe injury, illness, or surgery to being back on their feet at home. This job could take a few days or several months, depending on the level of care needed. If you’re considering a position in this field, here are the relevant facts you need to know about this noble and worthwhile profession.

Post Acute Care Covers all Major Therapy

In the role of transitional care, your job is to move someone to being fully functional after a serious life event hampers their ability to do so. It’s not about just regaining motor skills. A fully licensed and certified post acute rehab worker concentrates on the patient’s entire wellness from mind, body, and soul. This covers all three of the major fields of physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.

Physical Therapy – You might perceive all post acute care workers as specializing in this field because a lot of the work done revolves around getting the patient back up to full mobility. Physical therapy is all about getting the patient back to an independent state after their illness or injury has compromised their movements. The care worker focuses on providing their patient with the exercises and treatments that they need to get back to normal movement. They work to help regain the patient’s strength, flexibility, balance, and most of all, confidence.

Occupational Therapy – After working through an injury or surgery, some occupational therapy might be needed to get the patient back to performing their normal daily duties with independence. The care worker would provide this therapy so that the patient can dress themselves, bathe, prepare meals, and perform light house duties. This goes beyond physical therapy where mobility is the key. Occupational therapy works on the finely-tuned motor movements to perform specialized tasks. In some fooball match predictions cases, an injury leaves a patient without the ability to do a task, so a post acute care worker teaches compensation techniques and ways to alter the environment around them.

Speech Therapy – Post acute care occasionally gets into speech therapy. Stroke victims are often in need of speech therapy after a severe stroke limits their communication. Many disorders can lead to a loss of speech and a post acute care worker must evaluate and treat the conditions that each disorder displays.

Post Acute Care Can Be in Any Location

Rehabilitation serves the patient, not the provider. This is the reason that many post acute care workers are providing their services in a variety of locations. This could be in the hospital after a serious injury or surgery, in a skilled nursing facility (SNF), a long term acute care center (LTAC), or even in the home.
Hospital – For patients that need care straight after a debilitating illness, a hospital care worker is convenient and immediate. Care can begin right after the treatment is concluded. It’s worth noting that although care begins in the hospital, rarely does the full treatment of post acute care be given there.

Skilled Nursing Facility – A typical SNF is attached to a hospital to continue the treatment on a longer-term basis. The care providers in a skilled nursing facility treat a variety of hospital-related medical conditions. They provide a round-the-clock care that meets all needs, not just post acute rehab.

Long-term Acute Care – A LTAC is a center for those required a post acute care that extends for at least 30 days. If the treatment needed will be ongoing and intense, it’s a good place to consider as they focus on only post acute care for long term patients. There is no accommodation for short-term patients however.

Home – For many Post acute rehabilitation workers, this is the ideal venue. In a field that focuses on the patient’s entire wellness, the home is the safest and most reliable place to achieve long-term success. It keeps the patient comfortable and improves their response to treatment and rehabilitation. It also allows the care giver to deal with the patient in the environment they need to adapt to. If there are stairs in the home, the care provider provides physical therapy to use the stairs. If they have high cupboards, the therapy is about reaching up to the cupboards. Working within in the home provides the patient with the incentive to get better sooner.

For the potential post acute care worker, this field has a verity of choices and environments. If you seek to offer a particular type of therapy such as occupational therapy, your choice of post acute care can be as an independent worker in a home or as a staff member in a long-term acute center. If you want to work with a team of therapists all focuses on providing wellness in a skilled nursing facility, you can choose a field of speech therapy or physical therapy. Working in post acute care, your job is to be more than just a nurse or a therapist, but a mentor for the depressed, a coach for the uninspired, and a friend for the lonely.

If you’re considering a role in this field, contact the team at HTS Therapy, the specialists in contract therapy across all fields. They can help advise you in the role you seek to find.