Physical Therapist Assistant
The Physical Therapist Assistant provides physical therapy treatment and patient care according to hospital, state, professional and federal regulations and guidelines. In addition, the position:
- Requires effective communication skills for working with patients, families, and caregivers
- Requires effective communication skills for departmental and interdepartmental relationships
- Requires competency in physical treatment
- Performs physical therapy treatment tasks as delegated by and supervised by physical therapists
- Maintains open and on-going communication with hospital departments to ensure patient, staff, and hospital needs are met
The Physical Therapist Assistant creates an environment and culture that enables the hospital to fulfill its mission by providing patient safety and patient-centered treatment.
Who will you treat? We are an acute rehabilitation hospital setting. Typically our therapist can expect to spend an average of 2-4 weeks with our patients treating a wide clinical caseload such as: stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury, various neurological disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, amputation, joint replacement, fractures, multiple trauma, cardiac conditions, and pulmonary conditions. 80% of our patients are discharged directly home.
We use evidence-based practice guidelines to treat our patients. We utilize our clinical outcomes to asses and improve our treatment interventions and programs. We participate in a national outcomes database, which provides benchmarks and sophisticated outcome reports to help us continually analyze and improve our patient outcomes.
You will use standard and advanced therapy technologies- depending on hospital location, some equipment used such as Auto Ambulators, Bioness, Interactive Metronome, Hand Mentor, SmartStep, Anodyne, Wii and CAPs may be available.
Helping you become a better therapist is critical to our success - You will be paired with mentors; attend in-house as well as external educational programs. The treatment team is made up of full time therapists, nurses, social workers, pharmacists and medical staff; a great way to learn beyond your own discipline.
License or Certification:
- Must have current state license or certification; in states where licensing is not required, defer to state practice act
- CPR certification preferred unless otherwise required by hospital policy
Education, Training and Experience:
- Successful completion of an Associate's degree from an accredited physical therapy assistant program preferred
Physical Requirements:
- Good visual acuity and ability to communicate
- Ability to lift, lower, push, pull, and retrieve objects weighing a minimum of 30 pounds of medical supplies and equipment and the transferring and repositioning of patients. Reasonable assistance may be requested when lifting, pushing, and/or pulling are undertaken which exceeds these minimum requirements
