Basic Patient Care Skills Syllabus for 2017-2018
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Course

PTHA-1405-001 Basic Patient Care Skills

Prerequisites

<p>Corequisite: PTHA 1301, PTHA 1413 and BIOL 2401</p>

Course Description

The application of basic patient handling, functional skills, communication and selected data collection techniques.

Student ResourcesStudent Resources Website

Department Expectations

Occupational License Disclaimer

Notice to Students enrolled in an educational program for preparation of issuance of certain occupational licenses:

Students enrolled in an educational program in preparation for obtaining certain occupational licenses are potentially ineligible for such license if the student has been convicted of an offense. For further information, please contact your advisor, the Legal Clinic, or the faculty member in charge of the educational program that you seek to enroll in. The further information you will receive will include notification to you of your right to request a criminal history evaluation letter from the licensing authority in order to clarify your particular situation.

Hours

(4 sem hrs; 3 lec, 4 lab)

Class Type

On Campus Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

REQUIRED TEXTS: Principles and Techniques of Patient Care, 5th ed. by Frank M. Pierson and Sheryl L. Fairchild

Documentation Basics A Guide for the Physical Therapist Assistant 2nd Ed. by Mia L. Erickson and Rebecca McKnight

 

Supplies

ADDITIONAL SUPPLES:  BP cuff and stethoscope (optional)

 

Student Performance

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The application of basic patient handling, functional skills, communication and selected data collection techniques.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: This course is designed to give the skills needed to build a foundation of knowledge upon which more advanced skills may be added as the student progresses in the program. The course also provides nursing care skills as applicable to the physical therapy clinic.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: Students demonstrating academic dishonesty as defined in the “Student Rights and Responsibilities” handout will receive a grade of “F” in the course and will be subject to all PTA program policies regarding course failure. CUEING ANOTHER PERSON DURING AN EXAM, APPLICATION, OR SKILLS CHECK-OFF WILL BE CONSIDERED CHEATING.

COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Goals: Given the course textbook, personal notes, handouts, and other material, the student should begin to demonstrate competence with components of the following requisite skills identified by the Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education:

1. Apply the laws and regulations governing physical therapy practice to course-related skills.
2. Demonstrate appropriate professional behaviors in all interactions with classmates and instructors by displaying all Professional Behaviors at the beginning level

Communication

3. Utilize correct medical terminology and abbreviations
4. Identify strategies for guiding dialog with the patient/client to appropriate subjects and issues.
5. Demonstrate the ability to obtain essential subjective information from patients and/or family members through interviewing to obtain current information about patient’s level of function and status

Body Mechanics and Transfers

6. Identify multiple types of transfers used in the clinical setting.
7. Demonstrate the ability to competently perform common bed mobility and patient transfer techniques.
8. Recognize the different levels of patient function during bed mobility and transfer.
9. Demonstrate the ability to effectively educate another person on body mechanics training.
10. Describe proper body mechanics to lift, reach, push, pull, and carry objects.

Patient Positioning

11. Describe proper positioning of the trunk, head, and extremities with the patient supine, prone, side-lying, or sitting
12. Identify positions and postures that aggravate or relieve pain or altered sensations.
13. Identify areas prone to skin breakdown in a variety of patient positions.
14. Demonstrate the ability to competently position a patient in supine, prone, side-lying, and sitting.

Documentation

15. Compare each section of a SOAP note.
16. Accurately document a patient’s activities in the objective portion of the SOAP note including the patient’s functional capabilities and progress toward goals.
17. Compose a SOAP note demonstrating an understanding of short and long term goals from the physical therapist's initial evaluation.
18. Demonstrate the ability to accurately locate information in the medical record, based on an understanding of how medical record content is organized.
19. Compare documentation and discharge planning responsibilities of the PT and PTA.
20. Discuss the importance of discharge planning when a patient begins physical therapy.
21. Identify standards and criteria for documentation set by federal and state governments, professional associations, accrediting agencies, and health-care facilities.
22. Identify HMOs, PPOs, Medicare (parts A through D) and Medicaid.
23. Differentiate types of reimbursement for the PT and the PTA in specific health-care settings.

Aseptic Technique

24. Recognize the principles and concepts of infection control.
25. Define and list indications for transmission-based precautions as well as understand the pathogens transmitted for airborne, droplet, and contact precautions.
26. Demonstrate the ability to work within a sterile field and to perform a sterile dressing change.
27. Demonstrate the ability to competently perform appropriate infection control techniques, including hand washing and donning and doffing personal protective equipment.
28. Compare infection control guidelines for the different patient isolation categories.

Wound Care

29. Identify the major types of wounds and ulcerations.
30. Recognize the indications and contraindications for various types of wound care treatments and dressings.
31. Demonstrate the ability to competently apply and remove wound dressings.
32. Identify precautions for dressing removal.
33. Recognize as viable and nonviable tissue.
34. Describe wound characteristics including bleeding, contraction, depth, drainage, location, odor, pigment, shape, size, tunneling, and undermining.

Assistive Devices/Gait Training

35. Identify the different assistive devices used in gait training.
36. Demonstrate common gait patterns utilized with walkers, crutches, and canes
37. Demonstrate the ability to competently perform appropriate gait training, including accurate fitting of the assistive device and appropriate patient guarding.
38. Compare the different levels of patient function during gait training.
39. Identify a patient and caregiver's ability to care for an assistive device
40. Recognize safety factors and potential changes in skin condition from while using assistive devices for gait

Wheelchairs

41. Identify the components and features of various wheelchairs.
42. List the standard measurements for an adult wheelchair.
43. Identify common problems with wheelchair fitting and positioning, including potential solutions.
44. Demonstrate appropriate wheelchair management and mobility techniques.

Vital Signs

45. Identify normal and abnormal vital sign values.
46. Describe the normal and abnormal changes in blood pressure, heart rate, breathing pattern, and respiration rate during exercise and positional changes.
47. Recognize responses to positional changes and activities
48. Recognize normal and abnormal changes in the direction and magnitude of patient’s state of arousal, mentation, and cognition

Anthropometric Characteristics

49. Demonstrate the ability to accurately assess height, weight, length, and girth.

ROM

50. Identify indications, contraindications, and precautions for passive range of motion, active assistive range of motion, and active range of motion.
51. Describe the planes of the body and the joint motions that take place within them.
52. Demonstrate the ability to competently perform passive range of motion for the major joints of the upper and lower extremities.

Special Equipment

53. Describe safe techniques when working with patients with catheters, IV’s, chest tubes, gastrostomy tubes, casts, telemetry, or traction
54. Identify the indications, contraindications and parameters of the tilt table and standing frame.

First Aid

55. Identify common signs symptoms, and the appropriate responses for various medical conditions, including fractures, severe bleeding, dislocations, shock, sprains, strains, orthostatic hypotension, hypoglycemia, and autonomic dysreflexia.
56. Describe precautions to improve safety and reduce patient and employee injury in the treatment setting.
57. Identify the appropriate response to common medical emergencies that occur in the clinical environment

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights and Responsibilities

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In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

Students are to read the Amarillo College "Student Rights and Responsibilities" information with emphasis placed on the Academic Information, Student Conduct and Responsibilities, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Education/Prevention Program sections.

Students will not use cell phones in the classroom. All such devices must be placed on silent mode and kept stored. If a student expects that there may be some type of emergency situation, the student should inform the instructor prior to the beginning of class. Unauthorized use of cell phones in class will result in the student being asked to leave the class and being counted absent for the lecture/lab.

Student participation is a required element during Lecture and Lab classes. If a student refuses to participate actively in a discussion or activity, the student will be asked to leave class and will be counted absent for the day.

When asked, the student will attend class in professional dress including black, navy, or khaki pants for men and women or skirt for women, shirt with collar, shirt able to be tucked into pants at waist upon request, and closed toe white tennis shoes or colored dress shoe with heel not exceeding 1 inch with socks or hosiery to compliment pant/skirt. Amarillo College Badge/ID's are also part of the professional dress to be worn and are expected whenever the student is participating in off-campus program-related activities.

Jewelry and cologne are to be kept to a minimum. No tattoos are allowed to be seen at off-campus activities. Piercings allowed are a single pair of ear studs for women only. All other piercings on men and women must be removed prior to entering off-campus sites. If professional dress code is not followed, the student will receive a 0 grade for the day, will not be allowed to accompany the class on assignment and will not have an option to makeup the assignment.

Courtesy and respect are expected between the learner and instructor. Learners are expected to be attentive to instructor, guests, and other students during presentations. Learners are required to extend highest respect to patients/clients/others when making off campus contact. Lack of regard to this expectation at any time by any single learner or group of learners may result in immediate dismissal of the learner/s from the situation by the instructor, guest lecturer, or patient/client/other.

Dishonesty in the classroom or in completing any assignment will not be tolerated. Students demonstrating academic dishonesty as defined in the "Student Rights and Responsibilities" publication will receive a grade of "F" in the course and will be subject to all PTA Program policies regarding course failure.

Student Grievance: A student who has a problem with the course or course instructor should make every attempt to resolve the problem with the course instructor. If that is not successful, the student may appeal the decision of the instructor to the program director, Allied Health Dean, Dean of Instruction, and the Amarillo College President - IN THAT ORDER.

Grading Criteria

Quizzes/Homework Assignments  5%

Lecture Exams/Final                     70%

Practical Exams                             25%

 

The student's lowest quiz/homework grade will be automatically dropped. The lecture exam grades and the final exam grade will be averaged to create one test average. This average must be at least 74.5% for the student to successfully pass the course. In addition to passing the lecture exams/final exam, the student must successfully complete all assignments and meet course objectives in order to pass the course.

** Students who do not meet minimum proficiencies during a lab practical will be given one opportunity to re-test before the course is completed. The first test grade the student attains is the recorded grade. Students are required to demonstrate proficiency in ALL critical safety elements before being allowed to pass the course. Any student scoring a 79 or lower on a test or practical is REQUIRED to contact the instructor to schedule a remediation session. IT IS THE STUDENT’S RESPONSIBILITY TO SCHEDULE THIS SESSION.

In addition to passing the above tests, the student will be required to complete all assigned case studies. If these items are not submitted, the student will receive an "F" for the semester.

GRADING SCALE:
A = 100-92.5
B = 92.4-83.5
C = 83.4-74.5
F = 74.4-0

Note: A grade of C or better is required to complete the PTA major.

MAKE-UP POLICY: There will be NO make-ups on quizzes, skills quick checks, homework or final exams. Absence of a test or application or skills exam results in a five-point deduction from the earned grade. All absences will be treated equally, regardless of the reason. The make-up exam or application exam will vary in format from the original exam/application.
The student should expect to take the make-up exam/application on the day the student returns to class, unless otherwise notified by the instructor.

Attendance

ATTENDANCE: Regular attendance is necessary for satisfactory achievement. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the learner to attend class. At the beginning of each lecture and lab, learners will be expected to sign the roster provided by the instructor. Failure to sign in will result in the learner being marked absent for attendance purposes even if he/she is present in class and seen by the instructor.

Each learner will be allowed only one absence for lecture only courses and two absences for lecture/lab courses. After the absence(s), a penalty of five (5) points will be deducted from the final course grade for each subsequent absence. For example, a learner who misses three (3) lectures will have five (5) points deducted from the final grade for the course.

Full attendance of class time is also expected. A learner will be counted as "absent" if the learner is out of class more than 20 minutes of a class time. For example, if in a given day a learner arrives 10 minutes late to class, takes an extra 5 minutes for break and leaves class for 5 minutes for any reason (phone calls, appointments, bathroom breaks, illness), that is considered an "absence" for the day. This type of absence counts in the total number of absences resulting in lowering of the final course grade.

If a student is asked to leave a class due to disruption or lack of participation, the student will be counted absent for that entire class.

Following an absence, the student is responsible for getting missed notes/assignments/copies of handouts, etc. from classmates. The student is also responsible for getting any needed clarification of missed information from the course instructor.

Calendar

Additional Information

Instructional Methods include: lecture and Lab activities

USE OF CELL PHONES/ELECTRONIC DEVICES (I-PODS, MP 3 PLAYERS, ETC.): Students will not use cell phones in the classroom. All such devices must be placed on silent mode and kept stored. If a student expects that there may be some type of emergency situation, the student should inform the instructor prior to the beginning of class. Unauthorized use of cell phones in class will result in the student being asked to leave the class and being counted absent for the lecture/lab.

ASSIGNMENTS: All assignments are due AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS TIME on the assigned due date.  NO LATE HOMEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. If assignment is completed unsatisfactorily the student may be required to re-submit assignment. The first grade the student earns is the recorded grade.

REQUIRED READING: The student is expected to complete all reading assignments. All information is considered testable material, and may not be covered during lecture, therefore it is the student’s responsibility to discuss (at an appropriate time) with course instructor clarification of material as needed.  

LAB DRESS CODE: Appropriate dress is required during scheduled lab times.

Females: shorts, halter or swimsuit top (fasteners need to be in the back), sweat suits for a cover-up

Males: shorts, tee shirts, sweat suits for a cover-up

For successful completion of PTHA 1405 the following is required by each student: passing minimum average of all quizzes/quick checks, exams, Practicals, skills application; submitting all homework/documentation workbook assignments; and to participate in 1-2 body mechanics training session for other disciplines (outside of class time). The body mechanics training opportunities will be announced in advanced so each student has the opportunity to participate. During the body mechanics training opportunities the student will be required to wear the PTA student shirt, dress/nice pants, supportive shoes, as well as interact professionally with the other disciplines, classmates, and instructors.

SAFETY PROCEDURES: In case of an emergency, the student needs to call the Safety and Security department at 9-371-5163.  In an emergency situation, use the nearest phone that is available.  The student should also know in case of a medical emergency, the following procedure should be performed and in the order written:

1. call 9-911 for an ambulance
2. call safety and security

Amarillo College Resources link:http://www.actx.edu/resources/

PHYSICAL RESTRICTIONS: The activities presented in this course may have physical restrictions.  It is the responsibility of the student to let the instructor know if any of these restrictions apply to you.  All students are to avoid doing the VALSALVA maneuver during lifting activities.

If you have:

Asthma, cardiac problems, high blood pressure– avoid doing the Valsalva maneuver during lifting activities

Pregnancy– do not do any lifting that exceeds what your doctor has recommended.  Precaution needs to be taken when stretching due to ligament laxity.  All lifting is contraindicated if you have incompetent cervix, vaginal bleeding, placenta previa, rupture of the membrane, premature labor, maternal heart disease, hypertension, intrauterine growth retardation, and uncontrolled diabetes

Rheumatoid Arthritis– when in the inflammatory state, lifting is contraindicated.  It is recommended to rest and use splints to protect your joints during the appropriate activities as prescribed by your doctor

Thermoregulatory problems– clothing may need to be adjusted to accommodate the temperature of the environment.  If necessary, a misting bottle may be brought to lab

Diabetes/hypoglycemia– bring medication and snacks as needed

Latex sensitivity– latex gloves during sterile techniques are to be avoided.  Notify the instructor by the 3^rd day of classes so that alternative gloves can be provided.

THE LEAD INSTRUCTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY THE SYLLABUS AS NEEDED DURING THE SEMESTER.  ANY MODIFICATIONS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN CLASS.