Blind Rehabilitation Outpatient Specialist (BROS)

Job Title

Blind Rehabilitation Outpatient Specialist

Duties

The primary purpose of the position is to manage and provide direct blind and vision rehabilitation training services to visually impaired Veterans and Service members. The incumbent identifies, assesses, trains, manages, and provides follow-up for Veterans using clinical resources of the facility. Incumbent is a member of the Blind Rehabilitation Service, the interdisciplinary Visual Impairment Services Team, and interacts with Rehabilitation Medicine, Audiology, Social Work, Prosthetic and Sensory Aids, and other Services and agencies of the VA and the community. The Blind Rehabilitation Outpatient Specialist (BROS) functions independently in a number of settings including hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, educational institutions, and home environments. The work environment may be in an office, clinical setting, classroom, private home, VA grounds, nursing home, community sites, or hospital. The Blind Rehabilitation Outpatient Specialist provides direct patient care and support services to an adult population of patients which is characterized by a very significant number of older male patients, as well as young OEF /OIF Veterans who may have wound- and trauma-related vision loss. The incumbent, in concert with Blind Rehabilitation Center, all VIST and other facility resources, is responsible for identifying beneficiaries who have the potential to benefit from blind and vision rehabilitation training. Incumbent consults with all VIST, eye clinics, blind and vision rehabilitation services, and community resources to locate and serve potential Veterans to offer direct blind and vision rehabilitation service in all four skill areas in the veteran's home, other residence or within the community, as the need arises. The incumbent is responsible for blind and vision rehabilitation assessment, planning, training, and outcomes evaluation on each Veteran for whom service is provided. Incumbent uses objective and subjective assessment tools and methods requiring broadly based advanced knowledge in the five skill areas. An incumbent consults with local, regional, and national resources for information. Incumbent selects, interprets and adapts traditional strategies in order to meet Veteran needs. The incumbent develops an individualized rehabilitation-training plan for each Veteran with rehabilitation potential. Each plan includes Veteran and/or family goals, as well as achievable and measurable outcomes. In some cases, the plan will be communicated to the Blind Rehabilitation Center to expedite inpatient rehabilitation training, if that is a part of the Veteran's plan of blind rehabilitation care. The incumbent prioritizes rehabilitation training activities so as to maximize Veterans served, consistent with quality care and safety. Rehabilitation training will be designed to shorten waiting time, minimize use of the inpatient treatment at a Blind Rehabilitation Center or obviate the need for inpatient services. Veterans on the inpatient (Blind Rehabilitation Center) waiting list or those who have post discharge needs are prioritized for outpatient treatment. The incumbent makes maximum use of outpatient clinical facilities of the institution, together with proper and judicious use of home-based services, as necessary. To maximize Veteran's rehabilitation potential, the incumbent makes use of a wide variety of complex training aids and devices. Incumbent also uses complex assessment tools and trains Veterans on sophisticated prosthetics and sensory aids to accomplish the work, i.e., sophisticated computer interfaces for use with e-mail and Global positioning systems. The incumbent functions as an independent provider of blind and vision rehabilitation services. When serving as a manager for direct care, the incumbent is responsible for ensuring documents of assessment, rehabilitation training progress, consults, referrals and recommendations are properly entered in the Veteran's chart. The incumbent provides effective patient counseling in the adjustment to blindness as an integral component of the work. The incumbent relies upon his/her extensive knowledge of the psychosocial issues associated with visual impairment to assist the Veteran in adjustment to visual impairment and the blind and vision rehabilitation process. The patient is referred to an appropriate professional for more extensive counseling, as required. Other duties as assigned

Work Schedule : Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm

Telework : Available on an Ad-Hoc Basis Only

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.