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Kris Razma , MS OT / L
Ability Lab and have opportunities to actively round with their physiatrist to help with the patient ’ s transition into their inpatient unit or day rehab if it ’ s appropriate . Connected with Lurie is “ Almost Home Kids ” which is an inpatient program that feels more like a home and less like a hospital for kids 0-3 years old needing a bit more care before heading home . Generally , most parents are involved in their child ’ s care and they are aware of their therapy goals . Therapists will work some nights a little later so that they can provide caregiver education . Some strategies are the types of interventions we provide in the pediatric intensive care unit ( PICU ). For example , we mobilize patients while they ’ re still intubated to decrease deconditioning in order to move these patients out of the ICU faster . We keep up with current practice recommendations and evidence-based practice from the research . Data collection efforts are currently led by one of the nursing staff , who has brought an interdisciplinary team together and has included OT and physical therapy ( PT ) as key players in this initiative . It is significant that a member of the interdisciplinary team , outside of the immediate rehab team , understands the value that OT brings to the table .
Therapists need to contribute more to data collection and research efforts overall . Another example of our collaboration to enhance client outcomes came from a visit by members of our NICU medical and rehab team to National Children ’ s in Columbus , Ohio . We developed an in-house program to address NICU patients with Bronchio Pulmonary Dysplasia based upon what our staff learned during their visit . This strong partnership between OT PT , speech language pathology ( SLP ), and the medical team fostered best practices for our clinicians in decreasing the need for ventilator support for our clients .
I : HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE COMMUNICATION WITHIN YOUR INTER- PROFESSIONAL TEAM ?
K : The rehab managers meet monthly , managers meet monthly , and lastly the OT and PT managers and clinical coordinators meet with the OT / PT director weekly . The interprofessional rehab team shares an office space and a board where all the daily cases are easily visible so that the team can collaborate effectively . In our inpatient unit , co-treatments with OT , PT , and SLP occur quite often so there is a lot of communication and collaboration between all the team members .
I : HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE AND WAYS THAT YOU ELICIT BEST PRACTICES AMONGST YOUR TEAM ?
K : I have an open-door policy with my staff where I try to communicate with and listen to what my team members are thinking .
7 Illinois Occupational Therapy Association | 2022 ISSUE 1
I like to problem solve with my staff and even though they are spread out across multiple locations , I am always available by phone to assist when needed . It ’ s important for me to make sure my team has all the clinical resources they need . Myself , our clinical coordinator and team reviewed the evaluation tool the Developmental Assessment for Young Children ( Day-C ) and its effectiveness in use in multidisciplinary clinics and telemedicine and then started utilizing it in a multitude of settings . I am not a micromanager , as I trust my staff ’ s clinical reasoning and judgment and I am open to new ideas and strategies that they may come up with . One technique that I have supported my greater leadership team in establishing the use of focus groups among my staff to address specific clinical and professional projects . We have used the focus group for example , to develop strategies to reduce long waitlists for outpatient pediatric services . One strategy was shifting to episodic care for families who do not have adequate third-party coverage for services . By using this model , we can provide families with the effective tools they need to manage clinical needs while fostering improvement and restoration of function over a period of 12 sessions . At the same time , we refer families and clients to our social work team who work to connect families to community based resources such as specialized local park district programs to continue working on occupational outcomes and engaging in meaningful occupations within their community environments .
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