Physical Therapy Insight: Furthering a Growing Profession

Introduction  Physical therapists typically spend numerous hours with their patients over the course of their treatment and have the potential to make a great influence on them. The patients that attend physical therapy often suffer from some degree of pain, whether it’s from a recent injury or has developed over time, and rely on the physical therapist to help decrease their pain levels. With a goal of providing the best treatment to any patient being treated in physical therapy, the physical therapist should observe and consider all the factors that could be contributing to the patient’s pain and overall condition. The purpose of this paper is to encourage physical therapists to use the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Model when treating patients with chronic pain to identify the need to use a depression screening and how to use the results to guide the patient in further treatment if necessary. This information will be helpful in remind...

          Physical Therapy is a growing profession. Yet why is physical therapy experiencing such a large percentage of burnout? About half of the physical therapists reported experiencing burnout found multiple studies, especially those who have been in the profession over 10 years. 2,4 In my opinion we spend more time with our patients than any other provider. We listen to their burdens, their hardships, and also get to celebrate with them in their success. If we let it, burnout builds a wall between us and our patients affecting our compassion and ability to form these connections that affect patient outcomes. AI technology is one way we can combat burnout within our profession allowing us to be more productive providers. Documentation is a job stress that is required, but when physical therapists are staying late to finish documentation unpaid or feel like they aren’t able to provide the patient care they want because they are too focused on documenting...