Anyone else feeling jaded

[deleted1131510]

Acute Care PT of 1.5 years. Came in right at the start of the alpha COVID wave and worked through Omicron and Delta.

Throughout the pandemic, the nursing and respiratory departments have seen massive raises and retention / loyalty bonuses handed out.

In the meantime, I’ve only gotten a 60 cent raise. PT/SLP/OT have been excluded from any form of loyalty raises or bonuses.

RN’s now make more than I do. Burnout is an understatement, but now I feel like we get slapped in the face on top of it.

To add insult to injury, the case managers are b!tching at us for dialysis patients being constantly re-admitted / being stuck in the hospital for prolonged periods because no local SNF will take them. Kinda hard to work with them if they’re gone half the day and then they refuse PT when the come back to the floor from dialysis.

Any other acute care PT’s feeling unappreciated in general? I hate to say it, but I resent going down this path more and more each day.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ya1]

Acute Care PT of 1.5 years. Came in right at the start of the alpha COVID wave and worked through Omicron and Delta.

Throughout the pandemic, the nursing and respiratory departments have seen massive raises and retention / loyalty bonuses handed out.

In the meantime, I’ve only gotten a 60 cent raise. PT/SLP/OT have been excluded from any form of loyalty raises or bonuses.

RN’s now make more than I do. Burnout is an understatement, but now I feel like we get slapped in the face on top of it.

To add insult to injury, the case managers are b!tching at us for dialysis patients being constantly re-admitted / being stuck in the hospital for prolonged periods because no local SNF will take them. Kinda hard to work with them if they’re gone half the day and then they refuse PT when the come back to the floor from dialysis.

Any other acute care PT’s feeling unappreciated in general? I hate to say it, but I resent going down this path more and more each day.

Did you think of changing jobs? No need to stay at the same job if you dislike it. ?
I have been doing post-acute. Some places paid $5-18/h extra when treating COVID patients, some did not pay anything. I believe we have to ask for pay raises, then we may or may not get them. Then again, if you do not get anything, just change jobs and ask for more money.

 

[deleted1131510]

Did you think of changing jobs? No need to stay at the same job if you dislike it. ?
I have been doing post-acute. Some places paid $5-18/h extra when treating COVID patients, some did not pay anything. I believe we have to ask for pay raises, then we may or may not get them. Then again, if you do not get anything, just change jobs and ask for more money.

I work in a small bum **** community. A major corporation owns all the hospitals / clinics in this area. I think I know of only one other clinic that is privately owned, but this guy might as well be ATI in that he forces all his therapists to start off a session with some bull**** “cranial release” to get that unit of manual therapy out of everyone that walks in the door regardless of complaint or diagnosis.

 

[wiseOldPT]

It sounds like you are in an awful situation and really being undervalued for your work. I would say that you hate your current circumnstance/employer, and I would not say this has to generalize to all of PT. There are definite issues in cost of schools/reimbursement that everyone should be aware of and factor in to decisions on schools, location, jobs, etc. Definitely go into this career with your eyes open, but your challenges in a single setting in an awful time do not mean that everyone would have horrible careers.

 

[ya1]

I work in a small bum **** community. A major corporation owns all the hospitals / clinics in this area. I think I know of only one other clinic that is privately owned, but this guy might as well be ATI in that he forces all his therapists to start off a session with some bull**** “cranial release” to get that unit of manual therapy out of everyone that walks in the door regardless of complaint or diagnosis.

Maybe consider moving from that area to save your sanity? I am sure you will find a higher paid job elsewhere. And it sounds like it will not be worse that what you have now.

 

[deleted1131510]

Maybe consider moving from that area to save your sanity? I am sure you will find a higher paid job elsewhere. And it sounds like it will not be worse that what you have now.

If housing wasn’t insane right now that’d be an option. But it appears it isn’t a sentiment unique to me. At least half my cohort I’ve spoken with agree the pay is kinda dog ****. And the productivity standards is what drives the stress even further

 

[deleted1131510]

It sounds like you are in an awful situation and really being undervalued for your work. I would say that you hate your current circumnstance/employer, and I would not say this has to generalize to all of PT. There are definite issues in cost of schools/reimbursement that everyone should be aware of and factor in to decisions on schools, location, jobs, etc. Definitely go into this career with your eyes open, but your challenges in a single setting in an awful time do not mean that everyone would have horrible careers.

It seems standard. All of my friends are spread throughout the US and a good chunk of them make even less than I do. Pretty ****ed for a doctorate level profession

 

[wiseOldPT]

It seems like you want to vent more than a solution. As a recent grad (I think), you graduated at a tough time and as I said above, I think your current job does sound awful. That said, I've been a PT for over a decade and know hundreds in my network and job satisfaction is overall pretty high. Reimbursement rates are low and debt can be high. But none of those things should be surprises. I always encourage pre-PT students to thoroughly research pay in many different locations and settings and have a very good understanding of the financial implications. But like in most professions, if money is all that matters, probably best to go right into a trade and not have the educational debt.

 

[Azimuthal]

Venting is healthy. Here is some advice.

Yes, our pay sucks. We did it to ourselves by decades of therapists choosing not to advance or maintain cardiopulm for the generalist PT like how physiotherapists practice around the world. Most hospitals don’t even know we can perform wound care and pulmonary. Even now, our education programs are shifting towards online and remain highly fragmented in the depth and scope we teach. But I digress.

As for the CMs, don’t let their frustrations get to you. The issue you mentioned is typical in many hospital-based settings. When our CM director tried that on us, we simply replied with a question. “How often is nursing getting these patients up?” The frequency and duration of daily PT is insufficient alone to significantly reduce LOS. Patient adamantly declined? Here is a bed/ bedside exercise printout that *we* will review and patient will demonstrate, documented with frequency recommendations and that staff will supervise and provide assist when needed. Contact provider and ask for orders for patient to perform exercises with other than therapy staff per shift or so. Ensure exercises are to the level non-therapy staff can understand so they may assist and printout attached over the patient’s bed where the NPO and other signs would go. Document: “Nurse xx informed of frequency and duration of exercises that are to be performed xx times during each shift.” Be gentle with your approach but aggressive with the POC.

I am primarily OP but will cover acute side and have no qualms with explaining candidly to a patient or their families why placement is difficult. Hint, its not the staff. Repeated declinations will make SNF candidates look like $ losses at SNFs so PT sessions and charting need to be honest yet creative. My less optimal recommendation with these patients is home with family care. If a patient will not participate here, they will most likely not participate in SNF or other facility. When family is involved, if there is any, things change most of the time due to the family seeing their own limitations to support. I have no qualms with discharging a patient from PT’s care for lack of participation and the patient and family should be aware that attempts are finite. This can become a game of order-discharge-order-discharge, which can be mitigated by good communication with the hospitalist or whoever. Remember that many repeat PT orders are driven by CMs. It doesn’t make me popular with the CM crew but their placement issues are not mine, especially when we are doing our fair share or more. They know the challenges and if they don’t get the other disciplines involved and support therapists and our efforts, I am more than happy to focus my efforts on patients who will work with us. Despite this, I managed the highest press ganey reviews for acute and that’s not even my area.

To help the hospital out, consider reviewing the mobility protocols and enhancing them. It will make you a better asset, provide admin time, and set you up for leadership opportunities. I peaked at my hospital’s tiered pay system 3 years after graduation. I did so not because I was pushing myself to do things others wanted, but by saying “no” to countless requests and offering collaborative alternatives.

There is much to our profession that needs to be addressed to match our level of skill and training. For the most part, we are our worst enemy. Don’t take work home (this includes the stress, feeling of inadequacy, etc), understand your value, and know that there is more to learn to add value to yourself and your organization. Last but not least, team therapy does not have to be the “yes” team.

 

[oldmanDPT69420]

Same man