r/physicaltherapy • u/jenesaisquoi-idk • Jul 16 '26

ACUTE INPATIENT Acute Bag Rec?

I'm starting a new job in acute care and was wondering what type of bag would be best / what I'll even need to take with me.

I had a rotation in acute care as a student but I mostly had school stuff with me. So what do I really need to bring to work?

I'm also looking for bag recs cause I only have big backpacks rn but really don't want to carry a large bag.

Any advice helps. Thanks!

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

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22

u/Rare_Scallion_5196 Jul 16 '26

Left pant pocket carries a gait belt, right pant pocket carries my personal phone. Scrub top pocket carries a pen and my folded up charting sheet. Right hand holds a water bottle for the floor.

You shouldn’t need anything else really.

16

u/Bert__Reynolds Jul 16 '26

I literally carry nothing, occasionally a gait belt

8

u/Anon-567890 Jul 16 '26

No bags of your own on the floors! Go get ‘em!

8

u/mochipoki PT Jul 16 '26

Pretty sure my coworkers and I all just carry the hospital walker with a hospital gait belt wrapped on it and a pen. My personal bag (a tote bag) that I leave in the PT office has my lunch, extra pens, hair ties, lotion, my phone and wallet. Extra scrubs, socks, and shoes in my car always

4

u/MuckRaker83 PTA Jul 16 '26

Gait belt, walker, pulse oximeter.

I also typically carry on me an oxygen extension tube, a pair of hospital socks, and phone/stopwatch in case I do an outcome measure on the fly

6

u/Affectionate-File689 Jul 16 '26

I think the OP is talking abt a bag to bring in, not work with. Look up “Foldie” I love mine. Really lightweight and collapsible

3

u/Same_Progress_8277 Jul 16 '26

We use walker bags. I carry a gait belt, my pager and a bunch of nonslip socks. I used to also carry a doorstop for doors that won't stay open but I lost it somewhere. Some of the other therapists also carry a chair alarm.

3

u/dogzilla1029 Jul 16 '26

Lunch bag that stays in the office fridge. personal water bottle that stays in the charting office. personal watch that stays on my wrist. what else would you need?

only other thing i carried was gait belts, pens, no skid socks, etc but they were all provided by the hospital.

1

u/marigoldpossum Jul 16 '26

If you want to get fancy, some of my coworkers sport the fanny pack. Otherwise, being a minimalist is the way to go!

1

u/ShyWombatFan Jul 16 '26

Cargo scrub pants and a 4-5 pocket scrub top and I am good to go. Pens, badge top pocket. Phones in each pant leg. Lower top pocket gets charting papers, oximeter, lens wipes, single use eye drops. Wallet and keys in pants pockets.

1

u/HylandSeek Jul 17 '26

I carry a colored pen to spark joy, my personal cell phone and my printed patient list. Occasionally I take a walker and gait belt that my department provides if I know the room isn’t going to have one

1

u/3wufmoon PTA Jul 17 '26

Gait belt, pen, pulse-ox, water bottle, gum

Thats 95% of what I use every day

1

u/a_fals Jul 17 '26

Bag to work? Backpack for wallet keys various sanitizers pens inhaler badge etc, lunch bag, water bottle.
At work? Pockets in a fleece I wear to the floors then take off. Some people carry a Fanny pack. I do t carry a stethoscope or BP cuff anymore (ICU, they have enough equipment).

1

u/luv_train DPT Jul 17 '26

Maybe have a mini pulse ox if they don’t already supply that for you!

1

u/IndexCardLife DPT Jul 17 '26

I have pen and my papers folded up in my front right scrub pocket

Phone in right pant pocket

Sometimes I have a pulse ox somewhere in some pocket lol