Physical Therapist (Pediatric Acute Care) PRN

Vanderbilt Health; Nashville (TN); On-site; USD 55,000 - 83,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanderbilt Health is seeking a PRN Physical Therapist to join the Pediatric Rehabilitation team at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital in Nashville, TN.

You will provide specialized physical therapy services to infants, children, and adolescents across pediatric acute care settings, collaborating with a multidisciplinary team to support mobility and development during hospitalization. The role emphasizes family-centered care, interdisciplinary collaboration, and contributing to transitions

Qualifications

• Must have Tennessee Physical Therapist license or eligibility.
• Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
• Experience in pediatric, acute care, rehabilitation, or hospital settings.
• Ability to practice independently in a fast-paced pediatric hospital environment.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate and treat infants, children, and adolescents with diverse medical and developmental needs.
• Perform comprehensive mobility and functional assessments and document progress.
• Develop and implement individualized treatment plans promoting safe mobility and independence.
• Provide evidence-based physical therapy interventions including gait training and caregiver education.
• Collaborate with physicians, nurses, therapists, and families to support discharge planning and transitions.

Skills

Pediatric PT

Independent practice

BLS certified

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Physical Therapy

Job description

Discover Vanderbilt Health

With eight hospitals and over 180 clinics, we are the region's largest comprehensive academic health system. Vanderbilt Health has a long tradition of providing world‑class care to the people of the Mid‑South, living out our mission of moving medicine forward through preeminent programs in patient care, education and research. Here you'll find a spirit of collaboration and a supportive community where your expertise is valued, your knowledge expanded and your uniqueness celebrated. We are committed to fostering an environment where talented, compassionate people are united in bringing the most advanced care to our neighbors throughout the region.

Organization

MCJCHV Peds Rehab

Job Summary

JOB SUMMARY Provides physical therapy services to patients who have impairments, functional limitations, disabilities, or changes in physical function and health status resulting from injury, disease or other causes under occasional guidance. Actively collaborates with the health care/educational team to meet patient care, outcomes and system improvement objectives.

Physical Therapist (Pediatric Acute Care) PRN

Location

Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt Health | Nashville, TN

Schedule

Weekdays and weekends based on unit needs; approximately 20 hours per week

Training

Initial onboarding and competency training requires approximately 3 weeks of full‑time participation. New team member start dates are scheduled on a Monday.

Join Vanderbilt's Pediatric Rehabilitation Team

Vanderbilt Health is seeking a highly skilled PRN Physical Therapist to join the Pediatric Rehabilitation team at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital. This role provides specialized physical therapy services to infants, children, and adolescents across a variety of pediatric acute care settings. This is an exceptional opportunity for a physical therapist with a passion for pediatric healthcare, family‑centered care, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The therapist will work closely with physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, speech‑language pathologists, and families to support functional mobility, developmental progress, and successful transitions throughout hospitalization.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluate and treat infants, children, and adolescents with a wide range of medical, developmental, neurological, orthopedic, and complex rehabilitation needs.
• Perform comprehensive assessments of mobility, strength, balance, endurance, motor development, functional skills, and equipment needs.
• Develop and implement individualized treatment plans that promote safe mobility, developmental progression, participation, and independence.
• Provide evidence‑based physical therapy interventions, including therapeutic exercise, gait training, positioning, mobility training, caregiver education, and equipment recommendations.
• Support patients across pediatric inpatient units, including medical/surgical, critical care, rehabilitation, and specialty service lines as assigned.
• Collaborate with physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, speech‑language pathologists, case management, child life specialists, and other interdisciplinary team members.
• Educate and support families and caregivers regarding mobility, developmental activities, positioning, safety, and discharge recommendations.
• Document evaluations, treatment sessions, and progress within EPIC in accordance with hospital, regulatory, and accreditation standards.
• Participate in discharge planning and continuity‑of‑care recommendations.

Required Qualifications

• Graduate of an accredited Physical Therapy program.
• Current Tennessee Physical Therapist license, or eligibility to obtain licensure.
• Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
• Experience providing physical therapy services in pediatric, acute care, rehabilitation, or hospital‑based settings.
• Ability to practice independently while managing a complex pediatric patient population in a fast‑paced hospital environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Pediatric Physical Therapy experience.
• Experience in acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, PICU, NICU, or children's hospital settings.
• Experience working with medically complex pediatric populations.
• Familiarity with developmental milestones, pediatric mobility interventions, and family‑centered care models.
• Experience within an academic medical center or multidisciplinary healthcare environment.

Why Join Vanderbilt Health

• Practice at Tennessee's #1 Children's Hospital.
• Join a nationally recognized pediatric rehabilitation team committed to exceptional patient outcomes.
• Collaborate with experienced interdisciplinary specialists across numerous pediatric service lines.
• Make a meaningful impact on the lives of children and families during critical stages of recovery and development.
• Access ongoing professional development, clinical collaboration, and innovative pediatric rehabilitation programs.
• Work in a mission‑driven environment focused on excellence, compassion, innovation, and discovery.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Analyzes comprehensive information from formal and informal assessment that is pertinent to the patient's care and management to determine a rehabilitation treatment diagnosis.
• Collaborates with stakeholders in establishing the plan of care, coordinates and implements care delivery while anticipating patient care needs across the rehabilitation continuum.
• Applies appropriate, evidence‑based interventions to ensure effective outcomes and re‑evaluates performance to assess patient's progress towards goals.
• Employs strategies to promote successful return to home, community, and school/vocational environments.
• The responsibilities listed are a general overview of the position and additional duties may be assigned.

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES

• Rehab Therapist Patient Documentation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in documentation practices. Documents in the appropriate templates and utilizes only approved abbreviations within patient documentation. Meets institutional standards for quality and timeliness of documentation.
• Treatment Planning & Goal Setting (Novice): Demonstrates sufficient proficiency in developing a plan of care that incorporates treatment interventions focused on meeting objective goals. Develops and documents patient focused short and long term goals that are functional and measurable. Identifies the need for and referral to other services, as needed.
• Rehabilitation Therapist Patient Evaluation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in evaluating patients with physical deficits including impairments, developmental disabilities, functional limitations, disabilities, or changes in physical function by obtaining information pertinent to the assessment and administering and scoring standardized tests and objective measures of deficit areas. Selects appropriate measures and performs a functional assessment to document patient's status requiring skilled therapy. Interprets the results of the assessment and their significance to the patient, family, referring physician and other members of the health care team.
• Treatment Implementation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in providing treatment consistent with physician prescription and established plan of care. Able to modify treatment plan as needed to demonstrate provision of skilled therapy services including progression of treatment throughout course of care, and revision of treatment interventions of goals not met. May supervise and direct certified athletic trainers (PT only), physical therapist / occupational therapist assistants, technicians and volunteers and students. Selects and follows correct protocol for care and utilizes evidence based treatments. Has completed at least one year of clinical experience in treatment implementation.
• Physical/Occupational Therapist Patient Education (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in communicating functional impact of assessment findings, treatment interventions, treatment planning diagnosis, and disease process. Considers the communication needs/level of understanding of audience and may share appropriate information/literature. May supervise, educate and train students from professional programs of physical therapy, occupational therapy and athletic training.

Core Accountabilities

Organizational Impact: Executes job responsibilities with the understanding of how output would affect and impact other areas related to own job area/team with occasional guidance. Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Analyzes moderately complex problems using technical experience and judgment. Breadth of Knowledge: Has expanded knowledge gained through experience within a professional area. Team Interaction: Provides informal guidance and support to team members.

Core Capabilities

Supporting Colleagues:- Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance e and gain knowledge in new areas.- Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships.- Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences. Delivering Excellent Services:- Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them.- Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions.- Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness. Ensuring High Quality: - Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly.- Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure.- Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area.- Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities. Fostering Innovation:- Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches.- Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short‑term challenges.- Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

Certifications

LIC-Physical Therapy License - Tennessee

Work Experience

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level

Less than 1 year

Education

Bachelor's

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within Vanderbilt Health, supported by a comprehensive benefits package which may include health, disability, retirement and/or wellness offerings to enhance your well‑being and professional growth.

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity. EOE/Vets/Disabled.