Some Physical Therapists/Assistants a little...overbearing?

4 I don't want to offend anyone by asking this question, but it has been on my mind for sometime, so don't flame me please!

I find that when certain physical therapists or assistants come into a patients room they tend to be very...picky. They make comments like, "His pad has a stain, that needs to be changed", "I think his IV is leaking", or "Her foley needs to be emptied". Just little nit-picky things. Do they really think that we don't have the patients best interest in mind? And it is only with the PT/OT people. Respiratory doesn't do it, other nurses don't do it.

It just seems to me like there is a "How to annoy nurses 101" class in PT school!

Anyone else experience this?
Easy fix. "Thanks for spotting that. I'm really busy right now, thanks for fixing it" timing it so you exit the room as you finish the sentence. Toss the hot potato back to them a few times and they'll stop looking for work for you. Applied behavior modification!

i have experienced that and even more nitpicky about assessment. funny you mentioned that i thot it was just me being real sensitive!

OK, calm down. A physical therapist is trained and has the time to evaluate the COMPLETE environment of the pt. They sit and LOOK. I will NEVER, NEVER, complain about a PT. They are God's gift to pt.s and to my insight about the pt.s prognosis. I don't know what I would do without them.

Quote from steelydanfanOK, calm down. A physical therapist is trained and has the time to evaluate the COMPLETE environment of the pt. They sit and LOOK. I will NEVER, NEVER, complain about a PT. They are God's gift to pt.s and to my insight about the pt.s prognosis. I don't know what I would do without them.

Quote from NurseKatie08It's a vent thread...I don't think the OP has anything againsts PTs or the role they play in patient care.In my own experience in sub-acute rehab, I have worked (and still do work) with some particularly great PTs, and also with some particularly annoying ones. I don't enjoy the PTs or PTAs that like to tell me how to do my job, as I don't tell them how to do theirs. My big pet peeve is with one therapist who will come to a nurse and say patient X has been reporting symptom ABC all week during therapy...hello? Why didn't you let the nurse know when the symptoms initially presented...not days later! However, my main complaint is therapy staff taking up the whole nurses station chit-chatting (social chat, not related to pt care) during 3p report. At this point I'm trying to come in and start my day, and some days I am fighting for a seat to look at the kardex!

I've experienced this occasionally; however it was usually with the same two or three PTs - not all of them did it. The charge nurse on the ortho floor sweetly told one particularly persnickety PT that if she would like to go to nursing school and then micromanage her (the charge nurse's) patients, she would welcome the input. Now mind you, it's one thing to ask that the Foley be emptied if it's got a bit more in it, or that IV sites be secured a bit more - anything that will help facilitate the PT's work. However this one would toss out a "Make sure his bed is changed before I get back" over her shoulder as she'd walk the pt down the hall. That didn't go over well

Quote from steelydanfanI cannot speak to the complaint about PT staff crowding the nurses station; I would assign THAT problem to MANY others!

We have one PT that thinks she is an MD. She will tell pts your hct is low you will get a transfusion or we should change your pain meds to xyz. totally out of scope. she has been written up more times than I can count. the thing is she is otherwise a really great therapist and a joy to work with.

All I know is a physio will never, ever help you get a patient to the toilet, even when there is absolutely no-one else around & the patient is bursting. They say: 'That isn't my job" & walk out the room, or stand there & watch u struggle with the patient to the toilet. I don't have a lot of respect for them, and they tend to think they know more and do more than nurses. They forget that we are the after hours and weekend PT (I've done successful percussion on many ill patients), social worker, counsellor, amateur psychologist, fixer-upper of all and every problem.I don't have much respect for many of them with the above attitude.Stand your ground & do what I do: tell them u don't appreciate being told how to do your job, since u do theirs on after hours and on weekends. They usually get the message after a while, & shut up after that.

Yes, I have experienced it. I think they need to be redirected towards focusing on the patient and what their role is. They could be reminded that those minutes that they are charging for their time with the patient is precious and should not be wasted on nursing issues and trying to tell nurses what to do besides they are not qualified to supervise nurses and didn't get hired to do that.

Quote from carolmaccas66All I know is a physio will never, ever help you get a patient to the toilet, even when there is absolutely no-one else around & the patient is bursting. They say: 'That isn't my job" & walk out the room, or stand there & watch u struggle with the patient to the toilet. I don't have a lot of respect for them, and they tend to think they know more and do more than nurses. They forget that we are the after hours and weekend PT (I've done successful percussion on many ill patients), social worker, counsellor, amateur psychologist, fixer-upper of all and every problem.I don't have much respect for many of them with the above attitude.Stand your ground & do what I do: tell them u don't appreciate being told how to do your job, since u do theirs on after hours and on weekends. They usually get the message after a while, & shut up after that.

Well just from this brief thread we've seen the varying role of the PT dept. I've had personal and professional encounters with them. So understand that I work in an ICU. The role of the PT dept. is determined by hemodynamic paramaters and our goals are short... dangle for 20 minutes... walk to the chair. Because I only have two or three patients... while the PT person is wonderfully getting my patient to the chair and MY back isn't breaking I take that opportunity to change linens (it's so much easier with an empty bed) and my back its resting. My brief stint on day shift had our PT dept. walking patients to a commode or the toilet to teach them how to navigate. So I've never experienced a "no my job" reply... it was part of the plan of care and we celebrated the advancement of activity.My only beef with PT at work is with that "fragile" patient the complains up a storm and does not want to do for themselves and PT will allow it, when encouragement is needed. I simply put my foot down with the patient and PT and say ... "you will walk to that chair and sit for half hour if you want to get home any time soon, so start walking, now go on while I change your bed... (said nicely with a smile)" last, my daughter spent over a month in inpatient rehab after an injury. So briefly, they adapted to her severe headaches and not wanting to do anything and got my daughter with 5 hip fractures and two thoracic fractures and an ankle fracture up and walking normally in 5 weeks and they rode her hard, she still loves them and she recovered 6 weeks sooner than expected because of their dedication and hard work. And she was one pain in the patootie the entire time, refusing to go, and they always found SOME way to get her to work. So I've not experienced it personally or at work. I'm thinking you may have some over zealous newbies that have way too much get go and want to branch out with their knowledge. It seems way over the boundaries of your relationship with the PT dept. and it's an ongoing issue.I strongly suggest you get management involved, hold a meeting with the manager and discuss how you can address it. Then ask to be allowed to have a meeting with the PT dept (like three nurses, three PT staff). Plan an agenda... like three bullet points each of how you can work better together to achieve patient goals and identify three behaviors that negatively impact those. Next meeting work on resolutions to those... have yes another meeting to follow up and ensure that positive change is occurring and change the plan if there are those stubborn people. By this point, those that are impeding care and interfering with yours will be pointed out in private and everyone works together to form a plan of change.The last thing you want is a person that you described to mentor and train newbies into thinking this is acceptable. It needs to be stopped quick. Get a team together. That way you are not one against one.. you're all working together and you have your strength in numbers. I wouldn't have that either, but please re-read and remember how great the PT department CAN be, with the right peeps. Smooch...a bit of work, but with good management it can be stopped quickly.