Question 1

Your student Michael is 18 years old with a diagnosis of ADHD and learning disabilities. He will be graduating from high school in three months. How do you plan for his remaining therapy sessions and pending dismissal from OT?

Accepted Answer

You plan for his remaining therapy sessions by collaborating with Michael, his teacher, and a vocational consultant on helping Michael apply for and interview for jobs. Prior to graduation, students who receive special education services need assistance with planning for transition out of high school. Your remaining OT sessions can help contribute to this planning.

Question 2

The father of your 4-year-old kindergarten student calls you to report his concerns regarding how the student is treated at his mother's house. You should report this information to: ______.

Accepted Answer

You should report the information to your OT department and the student's teacher. They will collaborate to further investigate the father's concerns.

Question 3

Your 88-year-old cancer patient, Edward, is ready to return home after a four-week nursing home stay. You need to train his wife, Dorothy, how to help Edward complete basic self-care tasks. How do you arrange for this?

Accepted Answer

You would train Dorothy by calling her and arranging a time when she can come to the nursing home and practice helping Edward while you are present. Dorothy will not learn the specific techniques you have used with Edward from nursing staff, and she will be more prepared if she practices the techniques than if she just observes them.

Question 4

Patty, your 48-year-old outpatient, has not shown up for her last three therapy sessions. Her insurance is questioning continued treatment due to slow progress. How do you approach this situation?

Accepted Answer

You discuss the situation with your OT department. Then you call Patty and discuss with her the options she has for continuing therapy and the fact that her insurance is questioning treatment. If the situation is handled this way, your OT department will be informed about what you are doing, and you will be able to determine if Patty has legitimate reasons for missing therapy sessions or if she no longer wants to continue treatment.

Question 5

Your OT department must attend a staff meeting for your nursing home patient that has a difficult family situation. She has many children, some of whom want to see her return to home; and some of whom want her to stay in the nursing home. The staff meeting is in one week. What action do you and your OT department decide to take in preparation for the staff meeting?

Accepted Answer

You decide to schedule a home assessment with the patient to determine if she can manage basic tasks at home. An on-site home assessment with the patient present is the best way to observe the patient's actual mobility and safety in her own home. The OT department can make recommendations regarding discharge from the nursing home based on the results of this assessment.

Question 6

Samantha, your 5-year-old kindergarten student with autism, has begun to receive in-home applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy from a private provider. Her mother has requested to decrease her school attendance to half days, so she can receive the ABA therapy. The school district has agreed to her request. How does your OT department instruct you to respond to this situation?

Accepted Answer

You are told to contact the in-home therapist and make recommendations for skills that can be addressed through in-home therapy. ABA therapy is not the same as OT, and your student would still need to receive services from you. The in-home therapist working with Samantha will apply ABA therapy to all of her ADLs and would appreciate recommendations from you regarding what skill areas to address.

Question 7

Your OT department just completed an evaluation on a patient in the intensive care unit. The patient is not stable and may not survive through the night. What should you do before you initiate treatment?

Accepted Answer

Check with the charge nurse regarding the patient's condition before you go to see the patient. The nurse in charge of the patient will be able to update you on his condition and whether or not he should receive therapy.

Question 8

Sylvia is an outpatient with a developmental disability. She has developed carpal tunnel syndrome from the job she was assigned to do at her sheltered workshop. Sylvia's sister complains to you that the workshop will not place Sylvia on an alternate job. How do you respond?

Accepted Answer

You discuss the situation with your OT department, which contacts the workshop to observe Sylvia working at her job. To determine if the carpal tunnel syndrome is the result of the job and whether or not Sylvia should move to another job, she must be observed completing the job tasks.

Question 9

Your school occupational and physical therapists are collaborating on a backpack weigh-in day. What is the purpose of this program?

Accepted Answer

The purpose of a backpack weigh-in program is to educate students on how much a backpack should weigh to prevent back problems. Overloaded backpacks cause neck, shoulder, and back pain in teenagers and can lead to more permanent back conditions.

Question 10

Your nursing home has experienced a 23 percent increase in falls over the past two months. What could your rehabilitation department do to help lower the percentage of falls?

Accepted Answer

Your rehabilitation department could plan and give a mandatory in-service to all staff on how to prevent falls. All staff should be educated on fall prevention, so that they know how to spot and respond to residents who are at risk. Not all nursing home residents need to be supervised while they are walking. In addition, not all residents are capable of knowing their own limitations while walking.

Question 11

Simon, your new transfer student with a diagnosis of autism, is displaying many stereotypical behaviors and has repeated meltdowns at school. His IEP lists several strategies for handling such behaviors. What can you do to help Simon adjust to his new school?

Accepted Answer

To help Simon adjust to his new school, you can hold a brief in-service for all of Simon's teachers to educate them on the strategies that are in Simon's IEP. Simon's old school determined which strategies worked for Simon, and your school can follow through with these techniques. Most teachers do not have regular access to a student's IEP. So an in-service to educate them on strategies would be the most efficient method for communicating this information.

Question 12

Your outpatient clinic has asked you to hold a community wellness event focusing on arthritis. What topic could you include in your event?

Accepted Answer

You could include joint protection as a topic for the wellness event focusing on arthritis. Joint protection techniques help people with arthritis to reduce their pain and fatigue during the day. Occupational therapists frequently teach joint protection techniques.

Question 13

What activities could your OT department plan to promote OT Month?

Accepted Answer

All of the above activities are appropriate ways to promote OT during OT Month.

Question 14

The local multiple sclerosis support group has asked you to give a presentation at its next meeting. The topic it requested is remaining independent at home. What area would you emphasize for this population during this presentation?

Accepted Answer

You would emphasize home adaptations for this population during your presentation. People with multiple sclerosis often become more disabled over time and must adapt their environments in order to remain independent at home.

Question 15

The paraprofessionals in your school use your therapy room to provide sensory breaks to students. You notice that your therapy swings have not been hung up correctly during these breaks. What could you do to correct this problem?

Accepted Answer

Schedule an in-service for the paraprofessionals, so you can show them the correct way to hang up and use the swings. Scheduling an in-service will insure that all of the paraprofessionals will receive the same training from you at the same time.

Question 16

Your co-workers in your outpatient clinic are all very stressed. What could you do to help?

Accepted Answer

To help your co-workers, you could get approval to schedule a few training sessions on relaxation techniques over the next few lunch hours. Occupational therapists often train their patients relaxation techniques, and co-workers could benefit, as well.

Quiz 1: Acquiring Information