Physical therapy assistant job assist physical therapists in providing care to the patients. They provide several methods, procedures, exercises that could improve the ability of the patients. These are therapeutic methods such as of electric stimulation, ultrasound, mechanical traction as well as balancing and gait training. They record the responses of the patients to their provided treatment and exercises reporting the outcome of each and every treatment and exercise to the physical therapists.
Physical therapy assistant employment needs a moderate or highly degree of strength and stamina because of some of the physical exertion that is required in assisting the patients with their methods and treatments. For some case, the assistants are required to lift patients. Most of the frequent moves for a long period of time that are part of the job are kneeling, bending, standing and stooping. Their work schedule depends and varies with the facility. Almost 28% of all the physical therapy assistant jobs work part-time. There are schedules too that are on weekends and on evening hours to coincide with the patients’ personal arrangements and schedules.
They participate in providing and executing different measures that could help the patients with acute conditions due to accidents and other chronic conditions such as rehabilitation. The physical therapy assistant jobs execute various tasks and duties including applying cold or hot presses to the patients. They are also required to provide ultrasound treatments to any patients that need that kind of treatment, they are also responsible in supervising and helping patients on using the physical therapy equipments that could possibly make their lifestyle better. They must also be capable of monitoring patients when certain treatment, procedures, methods, etc. are done during those exercises. He will also be responsible in taking the patients into paraffin baths or providing electrical stimulation. He will also provide and do massage therapy to the patients. Not all that, the physical therapy assistant jobs are maybe required to engage some clerical tasks and duties like answering phones, ordering supplies and completing forms for the reports and for the patients.
In order to become one of the physical therapy assistants, he must have the skills and characteristics that could make him a boon to the agency or organization within the therapy sessions. He must have good or excellent organizational skills, writing and reading skills, keen listening skills, detailed orientation, strong interpersonal skills and service orientation. They must also know how to provide clear and understandable instructions to their patients and must have strong coordination to keep the relationship of the patients between the physical therapy assistants with their sessions. One important thing that a physical therapy assistant could have is sensitivity so that he may know or detect problems to use critical thinking and ideas to adapt such actions that are necessary during therapy sessions.
According to statistics, 72% of the physical therapy assistant jobs are in facilities of physical therapy or within the hospitals including some facilities like of nursing facilities, physician’s facilities and other offices. And the other 28% of the physical therapy assistants work part-time and are offered to work during weekend and evening hours for the accommodation of the patients. The physical therapy assistant jobs have a salary ranging from $37,000 to $64,000 every year depending on the nature of jobs and duties. In home health care services, they could earn as much as $51,950, in nursing care facilities could reach up to $51,090, in general medical and surgical hospitals could reach up to $45,000.
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