This is a great fun time for me, smack dab between baby showers put on by my family and church family. Things are really coming together to prepare for the baby and it's quite exciting!
I love my readers and I'm so often impressed by their own blogs and information that you share. So now I'm asking you to participate in a virtual baby shower for me, in a way that is quick, easy and free!
Please use the comments to share your advice related to being a new parent, balancing career and family, or anything baby/therapy related. What do you wish you would have known? Please share below!
Showing posts with label #10minTues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #10minTues. Show all posts
3.19.2013
#10minTues - Advocacy on the Quick
Often, when I talk with people about OT advocacy, they are interested but not really sure where to start. They also want to avoid a big time commitment. Here's a few super-quick ways for super-busy people to still take action.
First of all, are you an AOTA member? Because if you care about OT being represented on a federal level especially, then you need to join. AOTA (just like other professional organizations like the AMA) can only claim to represent the practitioners who are actually members, not all the OTs in the country. Also, the political action committee, AOTPAC, cannot take money from non-members. So if you're an non-member OT/A who benefits from the work that AOTA is doing (and you probably do), that would make you dead weight. Don't get offended, just get active. TOTAL TIME: 15 minutes to setup
AOTA has this great resource called the legislative action center. Using this literally can take less than a minute, and still is a way to make a big impact. I get an email from an AOTA staffer describing an action alert- here recently it was the Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Act (HR 1037). (sidenote, when your job title is in the title of the bill, it is a BIG DEAL. Action cannot be delayed.) Staffer sends a link to the action center, and since I am already a registered user, it knows from my saved zip code who all my senators and representatives are. Then it provides me with a form letter (which I usually change, and is why it takes longer than 1 minute) and automatically emails it to all the right people. Baddabing, baddaboom, it's done. Occasionally I get an email (or even a letter!) back from the congressperson's office. And your representatives seriously do care what you think on issues. There are so many bills in and out everyday, they don't read them all, and if a constituent has an opinion, that can sway their vote. TOTAL TIME: 5 minutes to setup, 1 minute or less thereafter
Social media is changing how issues are communicated. As it is now, I get detailed emails from the state legislative staff (by virtue of my Advocacy VP position in my state organization) but I can't read them all in-depth. What I do read are the Stop the Therapy Cap facebook posts, and the updates I get on twitter from the organization and legislative staff. I'm already on those sites, and getting a quick update on where the issues stand as I'm browsing through is so simple.TOTAL TIME: 2 minutes to setup, 1 minute or less thereafter
In the same way that social media has affected our information acquisition, so has mobility/portability. I like things I can do from my phone instead of tied to my computer. So while I know I can look up online various bills and what my reps are doing, there's an app for that- (and it's a free one!) called Congress (Android and Windows) or MyCongress (Apple). The free app helps you find your reps via zip code and allows you to favorite them, giving you quick access to how they're voting, their committees, and a way to contact them. You can also favorite bills to check their status. If you're super involved you can get push notifications on when committees are meeting or when a hearing is going to happen for your bill. TOTAL TIME: 2 minutes to setup, 2 minutes or less thereafter
So many people are afraid to get involved with advocacy efforts. Don't be! By virtue of being an OT practitioner, you are an expert in OT! Share that expertise with the people in power using these quick methods. Feel free to share your preferred ways to advocate or other advocacy questions/concerns you have in the comments below.
Additional resources
Want to do Advocacy? There's Something for Everyone by AOTA
AOTA Advocacy section
Lifehacker article How to Discuss Politics Without Sounding Like an Idiot (has info on the apps)
First of all, are you an AOTA member? Because if you care about OT being represented on a federal level especially, then you need to join. AOTA (just like other professional organizations like the AMA) can only claim to represent the practitioners who are actually members, not all the OTs in the country. Also, the political action committee, AOTPAC, cannot take money from non-members. So if you're an non-member OT/A who benefits from the work that AOTA is doing (and you probably do), that would make you dead weight. Don't get offended, just get active. TOTAL TIME: 15 minutes to setup
AOTA has this great resource called the legislative action center. Using this literally can take less than a minute, and still is a way to make a big impact. I get an email from an AOTA staffer describing an action alert- here recently it was the Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Act (HR 1037). (sidenote, when your job title is in the title of the bill, it is a BIG DEAL. Action cannot be delayed.) Staffer sends a link to the action center, and since I am already a registered user, it knows from my saved zip code who all my senators and representatives are. Then it provides me with a form letter (which I usually change, and is why it takes longer than 1 minute) and automatically emails it to all the right people. Baddabing, baddaboom, it's done. Occasionally I get an email (or even a letter!) back from the congressperson's office. And your representatives seriously do care what you think on issues. There are so many bills in and out everyday, they don't read them all, and if a constituent has an opinion, that can sway their vote. TOTAL TIME: 5 minutes to setup, 1 minute or less thereafter
Social media is changing how issues are communicated. As it is now, I get detailed emails from the state legislative staff (by virtue of my Advocacy VP position in my state organization) but I can't read them all in-depth. What I do read are the Stop the Therapy Cap facebook posts, and the updates I get on twitter from the organization and legislative staff. I'm already on those sites, and getting a quick update on where the issues stand as I'm browsing through is so simple.TOTAL TIME: 2 minutes to setup, 1 minute or less thereafter
In the same way that social media has affected our information acquisition, so has mobility/portability. I like things I can do from my phone instead of tied to my computer. So while I know I can look up online various bills and what my reps are doing, there's an app for that- (and it's a free one!) called Congress (Android and Windows) or MyCongress (Apple). The free app helps you find your reps via zip code and allows you to favorite them, giving you quick access to how they're voting, their committees, and a way to contact them. You can also favorite bills to check their status. If you're super involved you can get push notifications on when committees are meeting or when a hearing is going to happen for your bill. TOTAL TIME: 2 minutes to setup, 2 minutes or less thereafter
So many people are afraid to get involved with advocacy efforts. Don't be! By virtue of being an OT practitioner, you are an expert in OT! Share that expertise with the people in power using these quick methods. Feel free to share your preferred ways to advocate or other advocacy questions/concerns you have in the comments below.
Additional resources
Want to do Advocacy? There's Something for Everyone by AOTA
AOTA Advocacy section
Lifehacker article How to Discuss Politics Without Sounding Like an Idiot (has info on the apps)
3.05.2013
#10minTues - what I've been reading
When I was going through old entries trying to find the "greatest hits" I stumbled across this long entry of all the things I was reading. At the time, I had 2 hours on the subway to read, a huge library to access, and a teaching hospital's resources for journal articles. I was reading A LOT. Not so much anymore, but here are some of the best items from my RSS feed lately as well as other things I've been reading.
Your Therapy Source: Reflective Questions for Motor Learning - great straightforward questions to ask kids to get them thinking about their motor performance. A good application of contemporary motor control theory for the pediatric population.
Delivering and Receiving Healthcare:Having a Disability vs Being a Woman - this is a post by a medical student who uses a wheelchair discussing how he gets more respect than his female colleagues. An interesting take on male privilege. I enjoy reading about this man's journey through medical school challenges.
EmpowerAbility: Hotel Accessibility and Personal Journey with Universal Design - Deb Young is an awesome OT and I loved getting the chance to meet her last year at AOTA. She does a great job showcasing the importance of true universal design and how even when people are following "standards" that they are quite variable in how useful they actually are.
PT Think Tank: Transformation Scrutinization Vision vs Reality - Yes, I lurk on the PT Think Tank. They have an interesting viewpoint on allied health topics and it's good to see the PT POV on some issues. For instance, the PTs have their own Vision and existential questions about the name and role of their profession. OTs have this "navel gazing" of our issues and it was surprising to see that there are similar issues in PT.
Open Up and Let Go: Confessions and Conversational Speech and Words on the Blackboard - Deb is a mother of a child with autism and her perspective is one that I really value. She reflects on how you cannot spend 100% of your life as a "therapy mom" and the great feelings you get when a child achieves a goal.
Thinking Person's Guide to Autism: Costs of Fearing Autism and Labels, Light and Love - TPGA is a group blog, and I would love to see more OT versions of this. The contributors provide great views on autism-related issues. The first post discusses the public health crisis we're facing because parents are so afraid of autism that they refuse to vaccinate their children, and how that affects vulnerable populations. The second is a mother's 18 year journey with her son and how they have had balanced the hard times and the good. A very sweet story.
ABC Therapeutics: A Response to Hinojosa's "The Evidence Based Paradox" - Chris is so on top of life. Runs a business, reads research articles, and gives detailed thoughtful commentary regarding such on his blog. This post provides a look at why we can't use excuses about not having an Evidence Based Practice or continue to use approaches that aren't borne out in the research. very insightful.
Days of Our OT Lives: Surviving Childhood Without Social Skills - True Fact, I love Karen. It's not fair that she has a twin sister already because I think she should be my OT sister. I really enjoyed her sincere and personal take on growing up and can identify with some of those struggles. I remember being a smart kid who couldn't really understand WHY people did the things they did. WHY people didn't follow the rules exactly and want them enforced on others. Confusing indeed. But I am always thankful when people share the experiences that shaped them personally.
Dinner a Love Story: How to Blog My Rules - I'm frequently interested in the meta-analyses that demonstrate other writers' or therapists' principles. Jenny runs a successful blog and book empire and her tips about blogging may be very useful to others. Her rules on quality posts instead of a large quantity and not avoiding writing just because someone else is better rung true for me.
There's a lot of great OT blogs and those that I consider related either as service users or related services, and I hope you will consider following some of them. Using an RSS reader like Google Reader or Atom can make this very simple so you don't actually have to check these sites frequently. (I just linked to the basic "how-to" but the real key to reader efficiency is to add the "subscribe" link on your browser toolbar, then you can access any feed as you browse along) I've also had some actual book-books that I've been reading, listed below.
I'm continuing in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, and recently started book 9 (which is actually 10 with the prequel). 7&8 were a little slow, but this is a great fantasy series. If you liked Lord of the Rings, you'll appreciate the depth and delight in this world.
I borrowed Bringing Up Bebe from the library at the recommendation of a service coordinator in the early intervention system. It has some interesting takes on French parenting versus the "typical" American parenting. I just started this, but one thing I want to investigate further is the information on sleep and eating cycles. The author references French children sleeping through the night at 2 months and by 4 months eating just 4x/day all during the day. Obviously the feedings must be larger than what we typically give when feeding 6-8x/day. Given the info I just got from the lactation consultant last week, I want to investigate further on whether this type of schedule could be reasonable given an infant's stomach size.
I also borrowed a book on sleep for an EI client- The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep. Haven't started this one yet. And I'm intermittently reading (in very short spurts) Paul Rieser's Babyhood, which has been funny thus far.
Obviously there's a bit of a baby focus in my current reading but I don't think that should be surprising to anyone. I have a course on Infant Development coming up that I hope will be excellent and I anticipate reviewing those materials as well. This wound up being WAY over 10 minutes, but hopefully has some interesting items for you!
Your Therapy Source: Reflective Questions for Motor Learning - great straightforward questions to ask kids to get them thinking about their motor performance. A good application of contemporary motor control theory for the pediatric population.
Delivering and Receiving Healthcare:Having a Disability vs Being a Woman - this is a post by a medical student who uses a wheelchair discussing how he gets more respect than his female colleagues. An interesting take on male privilege. I enjoy reading about this man's journey through medical school challenges.
EmpowerAbility: Hotel Accessibility and Personal Journey with Universal Design - Deb Young is an awesome OT and I loved getting the chance to meet her last year at AOTA. She does a great job showcasing the importance of true universal design and how even when people are following "standards" that they are quite variable in how useful they actually are.
PT Think Tank: Transformation Scrutinization Vision vs Reality - Yes, I lurk on the PT Think Tank. They have an interesting viewpoint on allied health topics and it's good to see the PT POV on some issues. For instance, the PTs have their own Vision and existential questions about the name and role of their profession. OTs have this "navel gazing" of our issues and it was surprising to see that there are similar issues in PT.
Open Up and Let Go: Confessions and Conversational Speech and Words on the Blackboard - Deb is a mother of a child with autism and her perspective is one that I really value. She reflects on how you cannot spend 100% of your life as a "therapy mom" and the great feelings you get when a child achieves a goal.
Thinking Person's Guide to Autism: Costs of Fearing Autism and Labels, Light and Love - TPGA is a group blog, and I would love to see more OT versions of this. The contributors provide great views on autism-related issues. The first post discusses the public health crisis we're facing because parents are so afraid of autism that they refuse to vaccinate their children, and how that affects vulnerable populations. The second is a mother's 18 year journey with her son and how they have had balanced the hard times and the good. A very sweet story.
ABC Therapeutics: A Response to Hinojosa's "The Evidence Based Paradox" - Chris is so on top of life. Runs a business, reads research articles, and gives detailed thoughtful commentary regarding such on his blog. This post provides a look at why we can't use excuses about not having an Evidence Based Practice or continue to use approaches that aren't borne out in the research. very insightful.
Days of Our OT Lives: Surviving Childhood Without Social Skills - True Fact, I love Karen. It's not fair that she has a twin sister already because I think she should be my OT sister. I really enjoyed her sincere and personal take on growing up and can identify with some of those struggles. I remember being a smart kid who couldn't really understand WHY people did the things they did. WHY people didn't follow the rules exactly and want them enforced on others. Confusing indeed. But I am always thankful when people share the experiences that shaped them personally.
Dinner a Love Story: How to Blog My Rules - I'm frequently interested in the meta-analyses that demonstrate other writers' or therapists' principles. Jenny runs a successful blog and book empire and her tips about blogging may be very useful to others. Her rules on quality posts instead of a large quantity and not avoiding writing just because someone else is better rung true for me.
There's a lot of great OT blogs and those that I consider related either as service users or related services, and I hope you will consider following some of them. Using an RSS reader like Google Reader or Atom can make this very simple so you don't actually have to check these sites frequently. (I just linked to the basic "how-to" but the real key to reader efficiency is to add the "subscribe" link on your browser toolbar, then you can access any feed as you browse along) I've also had some actual book-books that I've been reading, listed below.
I'm continuing in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, and recently started book 9 (which is actually 10 with the prequel). 7&8 were a little slow, but this is a great fantasy series. If you liked Lord of the Rings, you'll appreciate the depth and delight in this world.
I borrowed Bringing Up Bebe from the library at the recommendation of a service coordinator in the early intervention system. It has some interesting takes on French parenting versus the "typical" American parenting. I just started this, but one thing I want to investigate further is the information on sleep and eating cycles. The author references French children sleeping through the night at 2 months and by 4 months eating just 4x/day all during the day. Obviously the feedings must be larger than what we typically give when feeding 6-8x/day. Given the info I just got from the lactation consultant last week, I want to investigate further on whether this type of schedule could be reasonable given an infant's stomach size.
I also borrowed a book on sleep for an EI client- The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep. Haven't started this one yet. And I'm intermittently reading (in very short spurts) Paul Rieser's Babyhood, which has been funny thus far.
Obviously there's a bit of a baby focus in my current reading but I don't think that should be surprising to anyone. I have a course on Infant Development coming up that I hope will be excellent and I anticipate reviewing those materials as well. This wound up being WAY over 10 minutes, but hopefully has some interesting items for you!
2.19.2013
#10minTues - an office lament
I've moaned and groaned before about having a cute little OT lab coat that will likely never get worn. This is a similar vein about office space.
Realistically, I should have known there would be office space inequality from the very first job interview I ever had. My future boss was showing me around the outpatient office, and started in the PT office- nice hardwood floors, large comfy office chairs, large full-size wooden desks. Not crowded, and very nice. Then we went to the OT office, which may or may not have been a closet in a previous life, with pieces of formica attached to the walls and mismatched chairs that needed to be shared with the treatment space.
The hospital side was a little better... PTs all shared the gym area and a computer or two in there while the OT had co-opted a closet (complete with washing machine!) to shove a couple of desks and phone into. This worked out alright until we had multiple OTs and not enough desks or chairs. My luck turned around when a spare desk was found in surplus. It had belonged to a little person, but a couple of wooden blocks under the legs allowed me to just slide my legs under the keyboard tray. This was a good ergonomic solution for me and so unworkable for anyone else that I got some private space there. (being petite has its advantages!!)
I had a couple of jobs with cubicles which allowed a little customization and privacy, but the vast majority of my workplaces have just had a shared zone with limited seating and workspace, and no area for personalization.
This is a little frustrating, because I had this image of being a professional and having a "real office," probably stemmed from watching my mom work in her office as a child. I want a space to hang diplomas and plaques that are gathering dust, somewhere for my books to be instead of a milk crate, well organized folders. When we bought our house and had a legitimate office area which I then needed to use frequently as an independent contractor (not frequently enough for a tax discount, but that is another topic) I thought this might finally become my dream office. But it is definitely still "shared space" and my husband has put the squash on most of my ideas. We have upgraded from a kitchen table to a legitimate desk, but I have to fight for drawer space and the right to keep my most-needed references nearby. I lost the diploma battle completely.
Will I ever get a "real" office? Maybe if I take a teaching job or open my own business. Until then, everything will just continue to get pushed into boxes in stray corners instead of sitting out. It's not a life necessity, certainly, but it would be nice to have some "me" space.
To end with a laugh- here's a photo of my college desk (on the right) which may explain why I need some space. :-)
Realistically, I should have known there would be office space inequality from the very first job interview I ever had. My future boss was showing me around the outpatient office, and started in the PT office- nice hardwood floors, large comfy office chairs, large full-size wooden desks. Not crowded, and very nice. Then we went to the OT office, which may or may not have been a closet in a previous life, with pieces of formica attached to the walls and mismatched chairs that needed to be shared with the treatment space.
The hospital side was a little better... PTs all shared the gym area and a computer or two in there while the OT had co-opted a closet (complete with washing machine!) to shove a couple of desks and phone into. This worked out alright until we had multiple OTs and not enough desks or chairs. My luck turned around when a spare desk was found in surplus. It had belonged to a little person, but a couple of wooden blocks under the legs allowed me to just slide my legs under the keyboard tray. This was a good ergonomic solution for me and so unworkable for anyone else that I got some private space there. (being petite has its advantages!!)
I had a couple of jobs with cubicles which allowed a little customization and privacy, but the vast majority of my workplaces have just had a shared zone with limited seating and workspace, and no area for personalization.
This is a little frustrating, because I had this image of being a professional and having a "real office," probably stemmed from watching my mom work in her office as a child. I want a space to hang diplomas and plaques that are gathering dust, somewhere for my books to be instead of a milk crate, well organized folders. When we bought our house and had a legitimate office area which I then needed to use frequently as an independent contractor (not frequently enough for a tax discount, but that is another topic) I thought this might finally become my dream office. But it is definitely still "shared space" and my husband has put the squash on most of my ideas. We have upgraded from a kitchen table to a legitimate desk, but I have to fight for drawer space and the right to keep my most-needed references nearby. I lost the diploma battle completely.
Will I ever get a "real" office? Maybe if I take a teaching job or open my own business. Until then, everything will just continue to get pushed into boxes in stray corners instead of sitting out. It's not a life necessity, certainly, but it would be nice to have some "me" space.
To end with a laugh- here's a photo of my college desk (on the right) which may explain why I need some space. :-)
2.06.2013
#10minTues - things pregnant therapists say
Yes, I am aware it's not Tuesday... but since that's one of my working days and I have been busting it to catch up on all the paperwork, blogging on that day is not so easy. In the style of the "s--- (fill in the blank) people say," here's some things that I think are unique to pregnant therapists. Not all said by me, but all have been overheard in my different places of employ.
- "I can't find my ASIS anymore!"
- "I'm going to take this reacher home... maybe the sock aid too"
- "You're getting really lordotic" (truthfully, I'm pretty lordotic to start with, but since I got a larger curve my back has actually felt better)
- "I haven't been reading What to Expect, but I got out my neurodevelopment notes and have been following along that way"
- "Can you bring Miss Cheryl that (stool/cube/ball) to sit on while you play on the floor?"
- "It's much easier to put TED hose on yourself than someone else"
- "Is that toy really developmentally appropriate?"
- "Sorry, Miss Cheryl can't (hang like a monkey/pick you up/crawl through the tunnel) today"
- "Which of these is the most ergonomic baby carrier?"
- "No, I don't think we need a Bumbo seat"
- "Let's go use the ICU ultrasound and look at the baby" (not me!)
- "I just need a minute to put my SI back in and then I can help you"
- "This scrub top used to have a lot more room in it..."
Anyone else have any funnies related to pregnancy and therapy or healthcare?
- "I can't find my ASIS anymore!"
- "I'm going to take this reacher home... maybe the sock aid too"
- "You're getting really lordotic" (truthfully, I'm pretty lordotic to start with, but since I got a larger curve my back has actually felt better)
- "I haven't been reading What to Expect, but I got out my neurodevelopment notes and have been following along that way"
- "Can you bring Miss Cheryl that (stool/cube/ball) to sit on while you play on the floor?"
- "It's much easier to put TED hose on yourself than someone else"
- "Is that toy really developmentally appropriate?"
- "Sorry, Miss Cheryl can't (hang like a monkey/pick you up/crawl through the tunnel) today"
- "Which of these is the most ergonomic baby carrier?"
- "No, I don't think we need a Bumbo seat"
- "Let's go use the ICU ultrasound and look at the baby" (not me!)
- "I just need a minute to put my SI back in and then I can help you"
- "This scrub top used to have a lot more room in it..."
Anyone else have any funnies related to pregnancy and therapy or healthcare?
11.27.2012
#10minTues : Facebook privacy
It's Tuesday! Went to bed late but haven't been able to sleep since 5am! This afternoon is going to be unpleasant!
Figured I would get my entry done now because I'm pretty sure that I will crash this evening. It's been a very busy time lately and only getting busier. I thought I would have this week to finish some EI visits, get the house clean, and pack for our trip- but when I get prn calls and calls for new evals, I can't very well turn them away, so what was already a busy week is now a PACKED week.
I'm working on contacting companies to get donations for cool Blogiversary giveaways in January, which would obviously be easier if I had a little more down time but I think it will get done. Looking for apps, small items, coupons. I was hoping to be able to do an entry or two on "my favorite things" but I think I have expensive tastes! Example- my grandma loves her HandyBar, which I got for $10 at #aota12, but they sell for $25 and up online.
Main topic today: Facebook, and social media use in general. My buddy Erik, aka @armyOTguy will tell you to be active on social media as an OT practitioner and to be consciously promoting a personal brand. That is a good thing to do, and could be effective marketing for both you and the profession. However, based on my own personal experience and my Facebook newsfeed, I would not advise that. Students are educated on HIPAA and privacy to the point of getting glazed over whenever it's mentioned. But it would appear that despite that, it takes social media users some time of trial and error to really figure out where that boundary is- it's usually more restrictive than they think. Similarly, students are educated on professionalism and professional behaviors, but may not be prepared to apply those to an abstract social media setting.
Personally, I kept a blog intermittently during college. It faded during OT school because I was locked in the health sciences building for 40 hours a week. But I know that there were times when I was aggravated with a class or concept or group project and had a post that was probably less than professional regarding OT or the program. We didn't get Facebook at my school until I was already in OT school for awhile, so we didn't have too many problems there, but did have a tongue-in-cheek OT facebook group that probably wouldn't have gone over well with the administration. And we definitely had people who replied-all on the listserv and got in serious trouble for one reason or another.
As surprising as it could be, there were several of us in our small class who had contact with "local celebrities" (for lack of a better word) and I think that the fact that we weren't yet immersed in social media culture played a factor in keeping each person out of privacy violations and associated trouble.
That was my (ever aging) experience. Now I have some Facebook friends who are OT students (usually because they were my friends before they went into OT school, I don't have a crazy Facebook following). And sometimes it is cringe-worthy to see their updates about school. Even something that may seem benign to you may not be so construed by your program, future employer, classmates. Examples (straight from my feed, mind you!) include: calling professors clueless; saying portions of your program are useless; fieldwork complaints; patient descriptions; assignment gripes; various program criticisms... you get the drift. None of these were terrible glaring violations ("I think Mrs Smith in room 33 has the ugliest scar evar!") but they do not promote a positive image of the poster or the profession. These are not from clueless people, but just people who don't have a good understanding of professional representation yet. It (should) come with time.
I reiterate- it should come with time. Having a job and a license increases many peoples' sense of responsibility for their actions. But my suggestion to you is to take steps to be extra careful.
Figured I would get my entry done now because I'm pretty sure that I will crash this evening. It's been a very busy time lately and only getting busier. I thought I would have this week to finish some EI visits, get the house clean, and pack for our trip- but when I get prn calls and calls for new evals, I can't very well turn them away, so what was already a busy week is now a PACKED week.
I'm working on contacting companies to get donations for cool Blogiversary giveaways in January, which would obviously be easier if I had a little more down time but I think it will get done. Looking for apps, small items, coupons. I was hoping to be able to do an entry or two on "my favorite things" but I think I have expensive tastes! Example- my grandma loves her HandyBar, which I got for $10 at #aota12, but they sell for $25 and up online.
Main topic today: Facebook, and social media use in general. My buddy Erik, aka @armyOTguy will tell you to be active on social media as an OT practitioner and to be consciously promoting a personal brand. That is a good thing to do, and could be effective marketing for both you and the profession. However, based on my own personal experience and my Facebook newsfeed, I would not advise that. Students are educated on HIPAA and privacy to the point of getting glazed over whenever it's mentioned. But it would appear that despite that, it takes social media users some time of trial and error to really figure out where that boundary is- it's usually more restrictive than they think. Similarly, students are educated on professionalism and professional behaviors, but may not be prepared to apply those to an abstract social media setting.
Personally, I kept a blog intermittently during college. It faded during OT school because I was locked in the health sciences building for 40 hours a week. But I know that there were times when I was aggravated with a class or concept or group project and had a post that was probably less than professional regarding OT or the program. We didn't get Facebook at my school until I was already in OT school for awhile, so we didn't have too many problems there, but did have a tongue-in-cheek OT facebook group that probably wouldn't have gone over well with the administration. And we definitely had people who replied-all on the listserv and got in serious trouble for one reason or another.
As surprising as it could be, there were several of us in our small class who had contact with "local celebrities" (for lack of a better word) and I think that the fact that we weren't yet immersed in social media culture played a factor in keeping each person out of privacy violations and associated trouble.
That was my (ever aging) experience. Now I have some Facebook friends who are OT students (usually because they were my friends before they went into OT school, I don't have a crazy Facebook following). And sometimes it is cringe-worthy to see their updates about school. Even something that may seem benign to you may not be so construed by your program, future employer, classmates. Examples (straight from my feed, mind you!) include: calling professors clueless; saying portions of your program are useless; fieldwork complaints; patient descriptions; assignment gripes; various program criticisms... you get the drift. None of these were terrible glaring violations ("I think Mrs Smith in room 33 has the ugliest scar evar!") but they do not promote a positive image of the poster or the profession. These are not from clueless people, but just people who don't have a good understanding of professional representation yet. It (should) come with time.
I reiterate- it should come with time. Having a job and a license increases many peoples' sense of responsibility for their actions. But my suggestion to you is to take steps to be extra careful.
- First of all, don't post things that you aren't OK with every person in the world reading. Mom, dad, program director, dean of admissions, fieldwork CI, future employer, and the patient themselves.
- Remember that it is not all about you. Each person (including the patient!!) is entitled to their story. Just because you would be ok with someone sharing your story if the situations were reversed does not give you permission to post theirs.
- Thinking and delaying before posting to twitter or facebook will probably help you self-censor. Things that seem fine in the heat of the moment may not seem so later in the day after you've had some time to consider.
- Button down your privacy settings. There are times when I turn off the ability for people to even search for my existence on Facebook. (clearly, I have a social media presence, but I try to keep personal and professional separate on a few platforms)
So that's my soapbox. I welcome other peoples' opinions on these issues, but my personal recommendation is to err on the side of caution to avoid issues down the line. Time's up! a lot closer to 30 minutes than 10...
11.21.2012
10 Minute Tuesday- Intro and cell phones
I am going to start my new feature, which may dribble a bit
in the holiday time but I want to make it regular in 2013. This involves me
writing for 10 minutes and topic switches are permitted- anything to get the
post written!
Obviously I missed getting this done on Tuesday but I
essentially worked 13.5 hours and was nothing short of exhausted. Did inpatient
hospital in the morning, outpatient in the afternoon, and an early intervention
client late that evening. It's funny to see sensory overload sometimes, I came
home and my husband wanted to talk to me about a video he was watching at the
same time that there was something on the TV and I just had to tell him to
choose. I could not possibly focus on all that when all I really wanted to do
was get in a fetal position and sleep for 20 hours.
Sad that I missed today's #occhat which appears to be on
adaptive equipment use and practices when issuing equipment. I have lots of
thoughts on that and have posted before, may need to do another after reading
their grabchat. I also have interesting really old-school AE pictures from when
my mom was in school to do voc rehab. It's neat to me to see how people used to
make certain things, and some of them have completely gone out of vogue but
would still be useful. The copyrights are expired on most of them so I will
have to scan in some pictures if people are interested.
OK my main topic was going to be cell phones, and how
essential they really are in today's world and especially my OT practice. I
seriously cannot imagine doing my early intervention job without my phone. For
today' client alone, I was able to do the following:
- text to confirm the appointment before driving there
- access my master file of client names and addresses
- get directions and navigation from an unfamiliar starting
point
- show an app that would be helpful to the family's goals
Seriously, without my phone, I would have had to use my
rolodex to get their number, just leave
a message on their machine and hope they'd be home when I got there, have to
add in an extra 25+ minutes to get back on my familiar route, and spend a lot
of time making equipment by hand. I have also used my phone to show a picture
of a toy that would be helpful, and in the school system it was so crucial to
get a picture of hand function for the evaluation. That's barely scratching the
surface of what it is capable of, but I really couldn't do without it in
practice.
Time's up! Hope you enjoyed this post and that I'll be able
to keep up the pattern.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)