Occupational Therapist - 24 Hours, Days

Occupational Therapist

Hospital for Special Care

We are dedicated to creating an environment of care and engagement that makes us one of the most desirable places to work, providing exceptional care to each patient each and every day!

Qualifications

• Required: Baccalaureate degree from accredited college or university with a major in occupational therapy.
• Required: Eligibility to take, or has passed, the entry-level certification examination for Occupational Therapists by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc. (NBCOT)
• Required: Current Connecticut Licensure or temporary permit and/or license per Department of Public Health Policy
• Required: Maintains continued competency requirements as defined by state.
• Required: Valid driver's license.
• Preferred: Current CPR certification.
• Preferred: Member of the American Occupational Therapy Association
• Preferred: MHS in Occupational Therapy

Job Summary

To evaluate, plan, implement and document a goal-oriented program of purposeful activities and therapeutic interventions to develop or maintain skills necessary for patient's maximal physical and mental functioning. To supervise and direct the occupational therapy assistant. To participate in an interdisciplinary team approach, communicating relevant information to others and providing education to staff, patients and families as necessary.

Physical Demands

• Ability to tolerate up to four hours of consecutive work, which may include constant standing or walking with occasional periods of sitting.
• Ability to safely transfer patients and provide contact guarding or hands-on assistance.
• Ability to lift or carry objects up to 10 pounds continuously, to 50 pounds frequently, and over 75 pounds occasionally for patient transfer/repositioning.
• Ability to push/pull over 60 pounds frequently throughout the day for patient transport.
• Frequent need to initiate body positional changes, such as bending and reaching and occasionally climbing, squatting, kneeling or crawling to access equipment from high and low areas and while providing treatment interventions.
• Functional fine and gross motor skills and upper extremity sensation needed.
• Intact vision needed for observation of patient's non-verbal responses and skin assessment.
• Must be able to initiate and interpret communication with patient and others.
• Additional physical demand for Occupational Therapist at main campus: Ability to tolerate submersion in up to shoulder-depth water from 1-3 hours.

Cognitive Demands

• Job requires independent problem identification. Abstract reasoning and adaptability to new situations, changing environment and information and quick decision making is required. A high degree of selective attention, discernment, perception and/or concentration in the presence of noise/distraction are necessary.
• Job requires clinical judgment to analyze and synthesize information, discriminate relevant from irrelevant information and determine prognosis and plan of care through interpretation of medical history and data gathered in evaluation. Job requires ability to learn new techniques, apply theory to functional context, determine interventions to be used and modify plan of care to patient needs. Reading, auditory comprehension of abstraction and an ability to make inferences are also required.
• Job requires a high degree of writing proficiency including attention to detail, adherence to all elements of style and ability to postulate. A working knowledge and familiarity with medical terms and definitions are required. Job requires a working knowledge of current Medicare guidelines and requirements for documentation and billing. For Outpatient therapists, knowledge of relevant documentation and billing requirements for other payers is also required.
• Job requires a high level of communication skill including expression of abstract/complex ideas, use of negotiation and active listening and an ability to dialogue with multiple parties. Also, to modify communication skills to the listener's level of ability or readiness to comprehend.
• Job requires the ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide with all units of measure, and the ability to perform these operations with common and decimal fractions. Also, to compute ratio, rate and percent and perform arithmetic operations involving American monetary units.

Work Demands

• Job requires working primarily indoors, only occasionally needing to be outdoors.
• Job requires working around and with others on a continuous basis.
• Schedule fluctuation is frequent and often unpredictable due to census, documentation requirements, program development and weekend therapy coverage needs.
• Work is frequently carried out in a noisy and somewhat crowded setting.
• There is exposure to body fluids, contagious disease and blood borne pathogens.
• There is occasional exposure to particles, chemicals, electromagnetic, electrical, ultrasonic, and/or thermal agents that could cause eye, nose or skin irritation - such as those utilized for casting/splinting, patient treatment, equipment fabrication or cleaning.

Essential Functions

• Provides evaluation and treatment of cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal, and neurological, impairments as dictated by the state practice act and licensure requirements. Recognizes physiological, psychological, and age-related changes in the patient, consults with other Health Care Team members, and establishes measurable goals with the patient and family based on appropriate patient care protocols and critical paths.
• Plans, implements, delivers, and delegates patient care by utilizing appropriate therapeutic modalities and interventions based on assessments, revising treatments when needed, instructing patient/family through verbal, written, and audiovisual materials and participating in discharge planning including recommendations to community resources to meet patient needs throughout the continuum of care. Maintains knowledge of advances in the care delivery through evidence-based review, peer reviews, case discussion and continuing education.
• Coordinates time management of self and support personnel by organizing schedules to meet patient care needs, carrying a patient load that meets productivity requirements and reflects standards of care of the service area collaborating with team members for assistance and coverage when needed to meet patient outcomes and department goals and standards. Supervises responsibilities that have been delegated to supportive personnel.
• Documents in a timely manner all patient and professional interactions such as evaluations, assessments, progress towards goals, equipment purchase orders, statistical reports, home programs and discharge summaries to maintain continuity of patient care for department standards, JCAHO and outside regulatory and insurance agencies.
• Communicates understanding both verbally and nonverbally to patients and families, health care team members, supervisors, and students in an appropriate manner to enhance positive relationships both internally and externally. Demonstrates professionalism in all interactions to promote the needs of the patient and the institution they represent. Utilizes the AIDET principles in all interactions with internal and external customers