The Power of Perseverance – Ashley Battle Improves Quality of Life for Patients at Sheltering Arms
By Alys Matthews, medical careers writer and photos by Darl Bickel
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Special careers supplement, February 12, 2017
Imagine a veteran learning to walk with his new prosthetic limb. Or a child with developmental disabilities slowly beginning to speak more clearly. Or an athlete making a full recovery from the concussion that put her career on pause. Life isn’t guaranteed to be easy for any of us, but when hardship comes our way, it helps to have a warrior on our side to inspire us to persevere. Enter Ashley Battle, whose chosen career as a rehab technician at Sheltering Arms Physical Rehabilitation Centers lives up to her name.
“The most rewarding part of my job is knowing I made a difference in a patient’s life;” she said. “Patients thank us all the time for helping them get back on their feet.”
Battle knows firsthand just how difficult that kind of bouncing back can be. When she was a young girl, she watched her cousin suffer a spinal cord injury that left him unable to walk. Her early memories of family members providing care for him and of Sheltering Arms helping him regain use of his legs with a rolling walker – shaped her decision to work in physical therapy. “If l could impact someone’s life that much every day. . . I would do anything for that,” she said.
What exactly does a rehab tech do? According to Battle, a little bit of everything. Rehab technicians play an integral role in the lives of those fighting to regain their strength after an illness or injury. They are responsible for delivering patient care under the direct supervision of a licensed physical therapist, occupational therapist or speech pathologist. Rehab techs provide an essential extra pair of hands to prep patients for therapy, monitor their responses to activities, and perform a variety of general administrative duties.
Like many professions that involve direct patient care, the job can be highly emotional. Battle described one recent encounter with a patient suffering from terminal cancer. The patient was depressed and hesitant to cooperate for his therapy – until Battle and her colleagues were able to ease into his room, talk with him a while and make him feel comfortable.
“We helped him wash his face and stood him up for the first time in a month,” Battle said. “He cried, praying and thanking us for helping him get one step closer to walking. This really touched me and made me appreciate the field work that much more.”
Battle graduated from Highland Springs High School with licensure as a certified nursing assistant, then went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in science with a minor in psychology from VCU. She landed the job at Sheltering Arms after the healthcare organization was recommended to her by a friend. The position served as a practical bridge from education to real-world experience. “It’s a great place to work,” she said. “Everything is about teamwork, which I love the most.”
But she hasn’t stopped there. Inspired partly by her experiences at Sheltering Arms, Battle is currently studying at ECPI University to become a physical therapy assistant (PTA): a position similar to her current job, but one that requires even more in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience. Ongoing education is important in physical therapy, Battle said, because there are always new treatments and diagnoses to keep abreast of. It’s a field in which the phrase “lifelong learning” takes on a new level of meaning.
That can be a demanding calling when juggling work, school and personal life. Fortunately, Battle is no stranger to the concept of perseverance.
“Right now my days are nonstop crazy,” she laughed. “I take my two-year-old daughter, Braelyn, to daycare, go to clinicals from 8:30 a.m. to around 6 p.m., then pick her up and go home. Once I’m home, it’s cooking, cleaning, bathing and bedtime. I take a little nap and then wake up around 1 a.m. to study for my boards for an hour.”
Battle expects to graduate with her PTA licensure in March of this year. And although she’s far from finished with her goals, she still had advice for those aspiring to medical careers.
Spoiler alert: It’s all about the love.
“Be kind, patient, positive, confident, flexible and willing to learn from others,” she said. “Research what you don’t know and love what you do. That kind of love is the golden ticket to success for you and your patients.”