Occupational Therapist-$2,500 Sign-on Registry Status
About The Position
The licensed Occupational Therapist (OTR/L) provides direct patient care, teaching, and participation in committees and departmental process improvement, while reflecting Northwestern Medicine’s mission, vision, and values and adhering to professional ethics, organizational policies, and applicable regulatory and accreditation standards. The therapist manages occupational therapy care from initial contact through discharge, with responsibility for functional progress, safety, treatment outcomes, documentation, and collaboration with treating COTAs and other healthcare team members. The position serves as a role model for therapists and clinical interns in professional, clinical, communication, education, and leadership activities. This casual-status role is cross-trained for the McHenry and Woodstock Inpatient Rehabilitation locations. It fills in on weekdays as needed, with the schedule known in advance. The weekend commitment is either two or four weekend shifts per month. The posting includes a $2,500 sign-on bonus, subject to the stated eligibility conditions.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy.
- Occupational Therapist license in the state of Illinois.
- Basic Life Support (BLS) certification from the American Heart Association upon hire.
- Comply with the professional Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice and applicable state requirements.
- Complete Northwestern Medicine required education, competencies, and training within required timeframes.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s or doctoral degree in Occupational Therapy.
Responsibilities
- Demonstrate Northwestern Medicine’s values of Patients First, Integrity, Teamwork, and Excellence, and maintain a friendly, approachable, and professional demeanor.
- Provide accurate information and timely updates to patients and customers, 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 across the team.
- Use organizational and departmental resources efficiently, manage the work schedule, and complete tasks and assignments on time.
- Facilitate collaborative care with healthcare team members and develop and maintain professional relationships with physicians, nurses, case managers, and others.
- Contribute to continuous improvement, cost reduction, streamlined processes, and the growth of services.
- Select appropriate evaluations, treatment modalities, equipment, and protocols; perform re-evaluations and adjust treatment plans according to department guidelines.
- Adapt treatments creatively to special circumstances and manage patients from initial contact through discharge, ensuring functional progress, safety, and treatment outcomes.
- Maintain primary responsibility for patient plans of care through timely, consistent collaboration with treating COTAs.
- Follow department policies for evaluations, progress notes, and discharge summaries; enter accurate documentation into the electronic medical record in accordance with policy and regulatory requirements.
- Complete daily notes describing patient response, performance, status, treatment-plan relevance, and discharge needs, while supporting continuity of care and reimbursement requirements.
- Provide educational materials and methods appropriate to each patient’s level of understanding and motivation.
- Participate in committees, department processes, special projects, internal and external marketing, and departmental educational efforts such as in-services, Journal Club, orientation, and process improvement.
- Accept constructive feedback and make timely changes.
- Complete non-patient-care responsibilities within established timeframes, including coverage notes, schedule 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 departmental productivity standards and complete required Northwestern Medicine education, competencies, and training on time.
- Accommodate patient-care needs and department meetings, and flex the schedule or assignment as needed, including outside normal work hours.
- Provide weekday coverage as needed at the McHenry and Woodstock Inpatient Rehabilitation locations and meet the selected weekend-shift commitment of two or four shifts per month.
Benefits
- $2,500 sign-on bonus, subject to eligibility conditions.
- The company describes a range of benefits supporting physical, emotional, and financial well-being; specific benefit eligibility depends on employment classification.
- Tuition reimbursement.
- Loan forgiveness.
- 401(k) matching.
