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Speech Therapy Job Summary
JOB SUMMARY Evaluates and treats patients with speech, language, voice, cognition, fluency, auditory (re)habilitation, and swallowing/oral feeding disorders. Educates and counsels patients and families. Provides independent therapeutic services and identify area(s) of clinical specialization and competency. Supervises graduate students as assigned in clinical specialty area. Participates actively in identifying and conducting quality improvement activities. Collaborates with clinical practice team to achieve patient outcomes and system objectives.
What You'll Do
- Evaluate and treat adult patients with swallowing, speech, language, voice, and cognitive-communication disorders
- Perform comprehensive dysphagia assessments and interventions
- Conduct Modified Barium Swallow Studies (MBSS/VFSS)
- Perform Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES), when competency is established
- Develop individualized treatment plans based on clinical findings and evidence-based practice
- Collaborate with physicians, nurses, dietitians, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and other healthcare professionals
- Educate patients and caregivers regarding swallowing safety and communication strategies
- Document patient care according to hospital and regulatory standards
Key Responsibilities
- Anlyzes 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.
- Supervises graduate students by providing instruction, guidance/counsel and training to ensure provision of competent patient care and completion of appropriate documentation.
- The responsibilities listed are a general overview of the position and additional duties may be assigned.
Why Vanderbilt Tullahoma-Harton Hospital?
- Practice in a collaborative acute care environment
- Utilize advanced swallowing diagnostics, including MBSS and FEES
- Flexible PRN scheduling
- Work alongside an experienced interdisciplinary team
- Be part of Vanderbilt Health, one of the nation's leading healthcare systems
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.
- Speech Pathology Patient & Family 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 speech-language pathology.
- Discharge Planning (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in the discharge planning process. Informs patients, family and members of team of the patient's needs based upon the assessment and/or treatment. Makes recommendations for continued services, follow-up, or referrals to other services. Seeks guidance consistently on the transition and discharge process including transition services and referral resources. May anticipate transition and discharge needs of the patient based upon understanding of pathology/diagnosis and relationship to their present functional status. Will have completed at least one year of experience with transition and discharge planning.
- Speech Pathology Treatment Implementation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency providing treatment consistent with physician prescription and established plan of care. Identifies treatment objectives based upon assessment results and family input. Writes functional objectives in measurable terms that are consistent with the family's goals and resources. Applies evidence based clinical management practices. Identifies and recommends additional/alternative services when appropriate.
- Speech Pathology Patient Evaluation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in evaluating patients with speech-language, auditory, and/or swallowing/oral feeding deficits using the appropriate testing methods and equipment for the patient type, diagnosis, and reason for the referral. Demonstrates the ability to obtain the case history and 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 for the patient, family, referring physician and other members of the health care team.
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.
- Ensures 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.
Position Qualifications
Position Qualifications: Responsibilities: Certifications: LIC-Speech Pathologist - Tennessee Work Experience: Relevant Work Experience Experience Level : 1 year Education: Master's
Benefits
- 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.
Diversity and Inclusion
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.
PEOPLE ARE AT THE HEART OF ALL WE DO.
About Tullahoma
Located in Middle Tennessee, Tullahoma offers a welcoming community, easy commutes, outdoor recreation, and convenient access to Nashville, Huntsville, and Chattanooga.
Employer Brand
We employ more than 43,000 people who work in inpatient and outpatient clinical care, research and graduate medical education. Our employees also serve in critical supporting roles in administration, information technology and informatics, finance, legal and community affairs, communications and marketing, fundraising, groundskeeping and facilities, and many other departments.
Our growing academic health system has more than 2,100 licensed hospital beds at eight hospitals: Vanderbilt University Hospital Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital Vanderbilt Bedford Hospital Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital Vanderbilt Tullahoma-Harton Hospital Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital Vanderbilt Health is the Mid‑South's largest provider of specialty care, with hundreds of outpatient clinic and surgical locations throughout the region, and Tennessee’s only National Cancer Institute‑designated Comprehensive Cancer Center for adults and children.
We are one of the nation's busiest critical care centers, home to Middle Tennessee’s only Level 1 Trauma Center and Burn Center for adults and children, and Middle Tennessee’s only Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We are the nation’s largest transplant center, and last year we performed the most heart transplants than any center worldwide.
Vanderbilt Health is an epicenter for biomedical research, winning over $1 billion in annual research awards from government, industry, foundations and donors. We are also a national leader in medical training and education, with the largest clinical training center in the Mid‑South and the only training center in Tennessee for many adult and pediatric specialties.
Three of our hospitals — Vanderbilt University Hospital, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital and Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital — have been awarded a Five‑Star Quality Rating from Medicare. We support each other and encourage excellence among every member of our workforce.
High‑achieving employees stay at Vanderbilt Health for professional growth opportunities, competitive compensation and benefits, and a sense of community and purpose.
Join us in advancing health care.
Our vision: The world leader in advancing personalized health.
Our mission: Personalizing the patient experience through our caring spirit and distinctive capabilities.