Inpatient Occupational Therapist IHR-Casual As Needed
About The Position
The licensed Occupational Therapist (OTR/L) reflects Northwestern Medicine’s mission, vision, and values; follows its Code of Ethics and Corporate Compliance Program; and complies with relevant policies, procedures, guidelines, and regulatory and accreditation standards. The therapist provides direct patient care, teaching, participates in appropriate committees and departmental process improvement, and serves as a professional, clinical, communication, education, and leadership role model for therapists and clinical interns. The role involves managing occupational therapy care from initial contact through discharge, including evaluations, treatment planning, re-evaluations, documentation, collaboration with COTAs and other healthcare professionals, patient and family education, and attention to functional progress, safety, and treatment outcomes. The therapist also contributes to departmental education, mentoring, process improvement, service development, and other non-patient-care responsibilities. The position is casual and as needed, with a rotating shift; schedule flexibility may be needed to accommodate patient care and meetings outside normal work hours.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy.
- Occupational Therapist license in the state of Illinois.
- BLS certification from the American Heart Association upon hire.
- Comply with the professional organization’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice and applicable Illinois requirements.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s or doctoral degree in Occupational Therapy.
Responsibilities
- Demonstrate Northwestern Medicine’s values of Patients First, Integrity, Teamwork, and Excellence.
- Maintain a friendly, approachable, professional demeanor and appearance; provide accurate information and timely updates; and use service recovery skills to address problems or service breakdowns.
- Communicate effectively, respect diverse opinions and styles, acknowledge others’ contributions, and foster respectful communication.
- Use organizational and department resources efficiently, manage work schedules, and complete tasks and assignments on time.
- Facilitate collaborative care with other healthcare team members and develop professional relationships with physicians, nurses, case managers, and others.
- Contribute to continuous improvement, cost reduction, streamlined processes, and growth of services.
- Select appropriate evaluations, treatment modalities, equipment, and protocols; perform re-evaluations according to department guidelines and adjust treatment plans as appropriate.
- Adapt treatments to special circumstances through creative problem solving.
- Manage occupational therapy patients from initial contact through discharge, with responsibility for functional progress, safety, and treatment outcomes; collaborate consistently with treating COTAs on plans of care.
- Follow department policies for evaluations, progress notes, and discharge summaries, and enter accurate documentation in the electronic medical record that meets medical necessity and regulatory requirements.
- Document patient response, actual performance, status, treatment-plan relevance, and discharge needs in daily notes.
- Provide educational materials and methods suited to each patient’s level of understanding and motivation.
- Participate in committees, department processes, special projects, in-services, Journal Club, new-hire orientation, and process improvement as appropriate.
- Participate in internal and external marketing as expected by the department.
- Accept constructive feedback and make timely changes.
- Complete non-patient-care responsibilities within established timeframes, including coverage notes, schedule-change requests, bonus-pay forms, discharge checklists, and follow-up calls.
- Participate in student clinical or observation programs as a clinical instructor, mentor, or observation host, as expected by the department.
- Maintain department productivity standards and complete required Northwestern Medicine education, competencies, and training on time.
- Accommodate patient-care needs and department meetings, including flexing the schedule or assignment outside normal work hours when needed.
Benefits
- Northwestern Medicine describes a wide range of benefits supporting employees’ physical, emotional, and financial well-being, with eligibility dependent on employment classification.
- Tuition reimbursement.
- Loan forgiveness.
- 401(k) matching.
