Cardiac Pulmonary Rehab Specialist I PRN

Intermountain Health•Saint Joseph, MO

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehab Specialist helps patients return to baseline health or improve functional capacity following a cardiac or pulmonary event. The role designs, implements, and evaluates individualized exercise and lifestyle management programs intended to promote recovery, reduce risk factors, and enhance quality of life. It includes patient assessment, monitoring and interpreting clinical information, functional capacity testing, patient education, treatment planning, documentation, and support for inpatient mobility. The specialist works with a multidisciplinary team and contributes to patient safety, quality improvement, staff training, and patient satisfaction.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a related field, such as Exercise Physiology, Exercise Science, or Kinesiology.
Current Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers (BLS-HCP) certification.
Current Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification, or PALS certification for pediatrics, as required by the facility.
Complete a formal EKG interpretation and arrhythmia detection course within six months of hire.
Skills in clinical assessment and monitoring, EKG interpretation, symptom recognition, functional capacity testing, exercise programming, patient education and coaching, communication, patient care documentation, care coordination, and technical use of rehabilitation equipment, telemetry systems, and clinical tools.

Nice To Haves

One year of cardiac and/or pulmonary rehabilitation experience.

Responsibilities

Apply foundational knowledge of exercise program design, evaluation, and standards for cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation patients, and develop understanding of departmental policies, protocols, and procedures.
Obtain medical histories through patient interviews and medical record review; review medications; assess symptoms and vital signs; measure heart rate, blood pressure, and blood glucose; and interpret ECGs at rest and during exercise.
Assign and instruct appropriate exercise levels and modalities based on physician prescriptions and patients’ age, health status, limitations, and capacity.
Perform functional capacity testing using appropriate procedures and equipment, including six-minute walk, bike, and arm ergometer tests.
Coordinate and provide disease-specific exercise, education, and lifestyle management interventions as part of a multidisciplinary team.
Educate patients about vital-sign monitoring, medications, coronary artery disease risk factors, exercise adjustments, stress reduction, symptom recognition, and appropriate changes in workload.
Provide inpatient mobility, activities-of-daily-living support, and education under a developed plan of care and as delegated by therapists or a floor RN.
Monitor physiological responses to activity and obtain and record assigned patient vital signs, including blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation.
Recognize changes in patients’ physical, mental, and emotional status; respond to immediate needs; involve appropriate staff; and follow up with the patient’s physician when indicated.
Complete individualized treatment plans, daily and progress notes, and discharge documentation according to departmental standards.
Document productivity information accurately and maintain working knowledge of insurance requirements.
Participate in quality and patient safety initiatives, identify improvement opportunities and safety hazards, and take appropriate action.
Assist with training new caregivers and students and perform other assigned duties.