OT/PT

This is a funny story about people who are absolutely clueless as to the role of occupational and physical therapy. Often, when orders are made for OT in acute care, PT is also requested as part of the consult. It doesn’t mean the patient even needs one or the other, but sometimes doctors just check it off as they go down the list of orders on the computer. Also, before some patients can go home, they need to be consulted by OT and PT.

Anyway, a fellow OT co-worker of mine was getting ready to see a patient who was awaiting approval from OT to be able to be discharged home when the nurse saw her coming. She got all excited and said, “OT/PT is here!” Mind you, it was just the OT that was there, but this nurse saw so many patients being treated by both OT and PT, they somehow all got rubbed into one word: OTPT!