PTA 105 - Patient Care Skills

Credits: 3
Introduces patient care including medical terminology, vital signs, universal precautions/aseptic technique, body mechanics, assisted ambulation and transfers, patient positioning and draping, passive range of motion, and handling techniques/therapeutic touch.

Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in PTA 101 and instructor’s permission. Student liability insurance required.

Course Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete this class will be able to:

Identify body positions and motions using medical/anatomic terminology.
Demonstrate taking vital signs accurately.
Document vital signs appropriately.
State the normal ranges for blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate.
State the abnormal values (for blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate) that are contradictions for exercise or treatment.

Program Outcomes

Implement plans of care developed by physical therapists.
Provide care in a safe, legal and ethical manner.
Transition to successful employment as PTA.

College-wide Outcomes

Critical Thinking - Critical thinking finds expression in all disciplines and everyday life. It is characterized by an ability to reflect upon thinking patterns, including the role of emotions on thoughts, and to rigorously assess the quality of thought through its work products. Critical thinkers routinely evaluate thinking processes and alter them, as necessary, to facilitate an improvement in their thinking and potentially foster certain dispositions or intellectual traits over time.
Responsibility - Responsibility encompasses those behaviors and dispositions necessary for students to be effective members of a community. This outcome is designed to help students recognize the value of a commitment to those responsibilities which will enable them to work successfully individually and with others.
Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning - Quantitative Reasoning encompasses abilities necessary for a student to become literate in today’s technological world. Quantitative reasoning begins with basic skills and extends to problem solving.