River Park takes patients back to self-sufficiency
In conjunction with Occupational Therapy Month, which is recognized in April, River Park Hospital wants to let people know the local facility has a first-class rehabilitation department.
In the past 10 months, the inpatient rehabilitation unit at River Park has had the opportunity to work with 274 clients from Warren and surrounding counties.
The rehabilitation team, consisting of a speech therapist, occupational therapists, physical therapists, rehab nurses, and doctors, have cared for 54 stroke patients, two brain injuries, 14 patients affected by neurological disorders, two amputees, 109 clients with arthritis related disabilities, 42 fractured femurs or hips, and seven multi-trauma victims. The rehab unit has also served 42 patients with general debility.
Registered occupational therapist Kimberly King says this type of therapy is very important to a patient’s full recovery.
“Occupational therapy works on increasing a patient’s independence in the areas of daily living,” King said, “such as dressing, bathing, feeding themselves, getting in and out of bed. Making sure they’re functional in the kitchen if that’s something they do at home.”
Therapists are called in after a patient has had a stroke, a hip replacement, a knee replacement, or a hand injury. They also work with school children with fine motor issues, as well as patients with spinal cord injuries. In many cases therapists work on skills that could be used for gainful employment for a patient.
King said her specialty has been around for some time.
“Occupational therapy was founded in 1918,” said King, noting that was when the first school was opened. Tennessee currently requires a masters degree for a registered therapist, and a two year program for certified occupational therapy assistants.
King says she enjoys working in the field.
“You see patients that come in and they’re unable to do tasks that we take for granted every day,” she said, noting occupational therapy can make a big difference in these patient’s lives.
“With adaptive equipment and maybe by adapting the environment,” King said, “then those patients can regain the skills to go home and live an independent life again.”
To that end, River Park has installed various appliances, such as stoves, refrigerators and kitchen cabinets complete with cans and cartons for patients to practice and develop their skills, something King says is very important for patients who need to learn to use extensions and reachers to retrieve these items if they are confined to a wheelchair, for instance, or prohibited from bending over.
King hopes local students might consider occupational therapy as a calling.
“It’s a very rewarding career,” she said, “and in rural areas they are in very short supply, so I encourage high school students to consider it if it appeals to them.”