PDE Goals

 

In our program we work on professional development and one of my goals this term was to read 3 OT related articles and write a reflection on each one. 

For the month of April, I read an article titled: Self-care management and professional burnout reduction strategies by Mira Rollins, OTR/L. This article talked about what professional burnout is and what are some categories of self-management. I learned that burnout is considered work-related stress syndrome, chronic job stress, physical and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduced professional efficiency, and reduced personal accomplishment. 

The 5 stages of burnout are: 1. honeymoon/enthusiasm: your creative juices are flowing, and you are committed to the work. 2. onset of stress: it is difficult to initiate a task. You are very irritable and have lower productivity in this stage. 3. chronic stress/frustration: you do not care anymore. You are fatigued and procrastinate. You doubt positive change or efforts.  4. Burnout: you are pessimistic, you think nothing is going to work out. There is self-doubt and think nothing or no one will change. 5. habitual burnout: chronic sadness, menta and physical fatigue and depression.

There are 7 dimensions of well-being: 1. physical: balance of strength, flexibility, and endurance. 2.intellectual: engaging in creative and stimulating activities that increase function and capacity of your brain. 3. Environmental: sense of safety, comfort, and connection to physical surroundings. 4. Vocational: using your gifts, talents, and experiences to produce income, provide services to others, and impact others. 5. Social: making personal connections and nurturing relationships that establish social networks.  6. Emotional: overall positive state of being of feeling satisfaction, meaning, and purpose. 7: spiritual: connection to a set of core beliefs and values that provide structure, boundaries, and peace.

These are 5 areas of self-care that we can improve: sleep, stretching, walking, exercise, and nutrition. 

For the month of May, l I read an article titled: Patient engagement strategies by Tania Nogueira. MSc, HCPC-UK, COT-UK, ACSS-PT. This article talks about the reason why clients are not engaged in sessions, and they mentioned strategies we as OTs can use to increase engagement.

Patient engagement is ability to obtain, process, and communicate health info, active commitment to and contribution to decision making, and having a mutual trusting relationship with our clients. Some examples of patient engagement include eye contact, being alert, smiling, motivation, asking questions, and showing interest.

 

Some reasons that the practitioner is not engaged: OT is disengaged or doing the bare minimum, OT lacked skills & understanding being client-centered, or OT lack confidence.

 

Some reasons client is not engaged: health conditions, confidence, health literacy, low support system, and low self-awareness.

 

The main ways to regain engagement from the client: readiness to change, building resilience, maintain autonomy, increase self-efficacy, motivation, prompting action, and accountability.

 

This month, I read an article titled: Comparative effectiveness of ultrasound and paraffin therapy in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized trial by Yi-Wei Chang et al.

 

This article talks about interventions we as OTs use and I wanted to see which one is better. This study included 60 participants who were randomly assigned paraffin or ultrasound. There were several tests the participants completed: Boston CTS questionnaire and a physical examination. The Boston CTS questionnaire is self-assessment exam that evaluates the participant’s symptom severity and functional scale. The physical tests included full wrist flexion for 60 seconds and a palmer pinch test.

 

Results showed that ultrasounds are more effective than paraffin wax. There was improvement in symptom severity, functional status, and palmar pinch power. Paraffin wax only found improvement in symptom severity scores.

 

 

 

References:

Chang, Y.-W., Hsieh, S.-F., Horng, Y.-S., Chen, H.-L., Lee, K.-C., & Horng, Y.-S. (2014). Comparative effectiveness of ultrasound and paraffin therapy in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-15-399

Nogueira, T. S. (2018, April 18). Patient Engagement Strategies. OccupationalTherapy.com. https://www.occupationaltherapy.com/articles/patient-engagement-strategies-5594

Rollins, M. (2022, July 19). Self care management and professional burnout reduction strategies. OccupationalTherapy.com. https://www.occupationaltherapy.com/articles/self-care-management-and-professional-5524-5524