OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST I

Occupational Therapist I

The Occupational Therapist I provides professional occupational therapy services to assist patients with mental or physical disabilities to attain, regain or maintain physical or mental functioning or to adjust to their disabilities.

Essential Job Functions:

• Reviews physicians' referrals for occupational therapy services and utilizes information obtained from patients' records relative to their medical history, social and emotional disorders and prognoses in order to select appropriate evaluation procedures for identifying patients' functional limitations/disabilities/problems and their level of performance.
• Administers a variety of evaluation tests to assess the nature and extent of impaired function, capacities and limitations such as range of motion, muscle coordination, cognition, developmental stage and life roles.
• Performs evaluation procedures to determine patients' performance capacities and deficits such as functional, cognitive, visual and perceptual abilities; assesses patients' interests, goals, environment, and psychological and emotional conditions, including interpersonal and social attitudes and behaviors.
• Analyzes evaluation test results to establish realistic treatment goals, predict anticipated level of functioning and time to achieve it; plans and develops sequential treatment programs; assesses patients' progress; communicates test results and measurements to physicians, members of allied health disciplines, and patients' families; develops and modifies initial and subsequent treatment programs consistent with the changing needs of the patient.
• Selects treatment methods and techniques that are compatible with patients' needs and capacities by assigning activities of interest which will develop desired motions, responses, attitudes, behaviors, or mental function; treatment programs may include individual and group activities such as manual arts, crafts, games, music, exercises, and sensory-motor integration, and practice in functional, pre-vocational, homemaking skills and activities of daily living.
• Performs complex treatment modalities, interventions, and techniques requiring special precautionary measures such as post-operative activities, manual stretching, positioning extremities with splints and braces designed to prevent or correct deformities, and special facilitation techniques to increase muscle strength and develop control and coordination.
• Confers with physicians, interdisciplinary treatment providers or a health team, and families regarding evaluation, treatment, progress and disposition of patients; makes recommendations such as for splinting and bracing, and considers suggestions made by physicians, other allied health personnel, and/or families.
• Coordinates patient treatment and results with other professionals and agencies such as physicians, nurses, social workers, rehabilitation and school personnel, families and vendors to provide total care to the patient.
• Supervises patient treatments and procedures delegated to other occupational therapy personnel and student occupational therapists and provides technical guidance on problem cases.
• Supervises, maintains, and/or modifies patients' treatment plan and documents progress notes relative to the therapy.
• Participates in continuing education/staff development programs and other medical facility, departmental, and professional licensing requirements as directed.
• Serves as clinical instructor to new employees, interns, and/or students; participates in quality assessment and improvement activities, as needed.

Requirements:

Education & Training:

• Graduation from an occupational therapy curriculum approved by the American Occupational Therapy Association Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE).

License:

• Current license or a limited permit for license issued by the California Board of Occupational Therapy (CBOT) as an Occupational Therapist.
• A valid California Class C Driver License or the ability to utilize an alternative method of transportation when needed to carry out job-related essential functions.

Physical Class:

Physical Class III - Moderate: This class requires that the incumbent stand or walk most of the time with bending, stooping, squatting, twisting, reaching, working on irregular surfaces, occasional lifting of objects weighing over 25 pounds, and frequent lifting of 10-25 pounds.