PHTA 2101 - Basic Principles of Physical Therapy

Description
This course is designed to introduce the student to the physical therapy profession. Topics included are the definition of physical therapy, history of physical therapy, role and responsibility of individuals practicing physical therapy, APTA, code of ethics, and laws governing the practice of physical therapy. The student will be come familiar with locating and utilizing the physical therapy literature, and professional development concepts. Basic patient care skills include infection control, CPR, vital signs.

Pre-Requisite
Acceptance into the Physical Therapist Assistant program of study.

1 Credit Hour(s)

Contact Hours
15 lecture hous

1 Faculty Load Hour(s)

Semesters Offered
Summer

ACTS Equivalent
N/A

Grade Mode
A-F

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:

Locate physical therapy literature
Relate basic information from the physical therapy literature
Locate physical therapy literature from the WEB and assess its credibility, validity, and reliability.
Apply basic time management principles to individual study habits
Recognize knowledge of infection control principles including universal precautions, standard precautions, medical asepsis, surgical asepsis, sterilization, disinfection, antisepsis, and isolation techniques.
Define the practice of physical therapy
Recognize the role of the American Physical Therapy Association
Identify the APTA support documents and recognize their content including: Standards of Ethical Conduct for the Physical Therapist Assistant, Guide for Conduct of the Affiliate Member, Standards of Practice for Physical Therapy, and The Guide to Physical Therapy Practice
Recognize and identify the roles of the physical therapist and physical therapist assistant in the practice of physical therapy
Recognize the legal documents governing the practice of physical therapy
Identify normal pediatric and adult vital sign ranges for temperature, heart rate, respiration rate and blood pressure
Recognize factors affecting the vital signs
Recognize when interventions should not be provided as a result of a change in vital signs and appropriate actions to take in response to this change.
Recommend appropriate responses to emergency situations per American Heart Association and national Guidelines for First Aid Training in Occupational Settings.
Use APTA’s evidence based practice resources online to determine an appropriate treatment plan for a given diagnosis.

General Education Outcomes Supported

Students develop higher order thinking skills.
Students can employ a variety of sources to locate, evaluate, and use Information.
Students gain greater awareness of cultural perspectives.
Students can write clear, coherent, well-organized documents, substantially free of errors.
Students develop effective oral communication skills