SPEECH THERAPIST - Ponce Health & Rehabilitation Center

OVERVIEW:

The Speech Therapist in a Skilled Nursing Facility environment, diagnoses and treats speech and language problems. Evaluates speech and language skills as related to educational, medical, social, and psychological factors. Plans, directs, or conducts rehabilitative treatment programs to restore communicative efficiency of individuals with communication problems of organic and non-organic etiology.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

·         Evaluates all residents/patients who have been referred by their physicians with a written order. Develops a treatment program including functional long and short term goals for all the residents/patients placed on a Speech therapy program.

·         Provides treatment as ordered by the attending physician. Interprets, plan, establishes, and exercises proper treatment program in accordance with the physician's referral, periodically, reviewing the resident's/patient's program and response and making recommendations to the physician relative to the need of continuing or discontinuing the Speech therapy treatment.

·         Contacts the physician for resident's/patient's reports and care as needed. Observes, records, and reports to the physician the resident's/patient's reactions to the therapy programs or any changes in the resident's/patient's condition.

·         Instructs, teaches and supervises residents/patients, and family/caregivers, regarding Speech therapy procedures as related to the resident's/patient's therapy programs.

·         Participates in staff development activities. Participates in in-service education programs.

·         Supervise CFYs as per the guidelines set forth by ASHA.

·         Adheres to all applicable federal, state, local, facility and company (BHI) maintained standards of care and ethics and policies concerned with the practice of Speech therapy and among other things, personnel qualifications.

·         Meets productivity and utilization expectation as established by the company.

·         Completes timely clinical documentation to include functional goal setting, progress and therapeutic approach.

QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION / EXPERIENCE:

·         Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology

·         Certificate of Clinical Competency or eligibility for Clinical Fellowship Year

·         Current state licensure

·         Current CPR certification

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

·         This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

·         This job operates in a health care setting. This role requires regular walking to various locations around the care center.

·         Incumbent may be exposed to virus, disease and infection from patients and specimens in working environment.

·         Incumbent may be required to work extended periods of time at a video display terminal.

·         Incumbent may experience traumatic situations, including psychiatric, and deceased patients.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

·         The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

·         While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus

·         This position is very active and requires standing, walking, bending, kneeling, stooping, crouching, crawling and climbing all day.

·         The employee must frequently lift or move objects and patients weighing over 50 pounds.

TRAVEL: 

·         No travel is expected for this position