Physical Therapist-Orthopedic and Pelvic Health Full-time

Northwestern Memorial Healthcare•Sycamore, IL

About The Position

The Physical Therapist provides direct patient care and manages the full course of physical therapy services, from initial contact through discharge, with responsibility for functional progress, safety, and treatment outcomes. The role includes teaching, participation in appropriate committees and departmental process improvement, and serving as a role model for therapists and clinical interns in professional, clinical, communication, education, and leadership activities. The therapist follows professional and state standards of practice, organizational policies and values, and applicable regulatory and accreditation standards. The position emphasizes patient-first service, teamwork, integrity, and excellence. The therapist collaborates with treating PTAs and other healthcare team members; evaluates and re-evaluates patients; selects appropriate treatments, equipment, modalities, and protocols; and maintains timely, complete documentation in the electronic medical record. The therapist also provides patient education, contributes to department and clinic education and improvement efforts, participates in student clinical or observation programs, and completes assigned administrative and non-patient-care responsibilities. Schedule or assignment flexibility may be needed to meet patient-care and departmental needs, including meetings outside normal work hours.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Physical Therapy.
Licensed Physical Therapist in the State of Illinois.
Basic Life Support (BLS) certification from the American Heart Association upon hire.

Nice To Haves

Master’s or doctoral degree in Physical Therapy.

Responsibilities

Demonstrate Northwestern Medicine’s values of teamwork, patients first, integrity, and excellence.
Provide friendly, professional service; give accurate information and timely updates; address questions and concerns; assist with directions; and use service recovery skills when problems occur.
Manage patients’ physical therapy care from initial contact through discharge, including responsibility for functional progress, safety, and treatment outcomes.
Collaborate consistently and in a timely manner with treating PTAs and other members of the healthcare team.
Perform appropriate evaluations and re-evaluations, select treatments, modalities, equipment, and protocols, and adjust treatment plans as needed.
Follow department policies for evaluations, progress notes, and discharge summaries, and document all notes in the electronic medical record.
Complete daily notes that document patient response, performance, assessment, treatment-plan status, and discharge needs in a manner that supports continuity of care and reimbursement requirements.
Provide patient education and materials appropriate to each patient’s understanding and motivation.
Help coworkers across departments, communicate respectfully, use resources efficiently, and manage schedules and assignments on time.
Contribute to continuous improvement, cost reduction, streamlined processes, and service development; use creative problem solving when adapting treatment to special circumstances.
Participate in committees, department processes, special projects, and internal and external marketing as expected.
Develop and maintain professional relationships with physicians, nurses, case managers, and other healthcare team members.
Promote respectful team communication, listen to input, acknowledge contributions, accept constructive feedback, and make timely changes.
Complete non-patient-care responsibilities within established timelines, such as coverage notes and schedule-change requests.
Contribute to departmental and clinic education, including in-services, journal clubs, new-hire orientation, and performance improvement activities.
Participate in student clinical or observation programs as a clinical instructor, mentor, or observation host.
Meet department productivity standards and flex schedule or assignment to meet patient-care and meeting needs, including meetings outside normal work hours.