Physical Therapist (PRN)

Vanderbilt University Medical Center•Franklin, TN

13d•Hybrid

About The Position

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is a leading institution in Nashville, Tennessee, dedicated to advancing health and wellness through patient care, education, and research. VUMC is seeking an experienced Outpatient Orthopedic Physical Therapist to join their Float Pool, supporting rehabilitation clinics across the Nashville area. This PRN role offers flexibility, variety, and the opportunity to provide patient-centered care without the pressure of productivity metrics. Therapists at Vanderbilt are empowered to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care, focusing on one-on-one patient sessions with dedicated documentation time. As a Float Pool therapist, you will gain experience across multiple outpatient orthopedic clinics within the Nashville market, working with diverse patient populations and teams while remaining part of a nationally recognized health system. The role involves providing weekday coverage, with no weekends or holidays required, and offers flexible work locations throughout the Nashville area. The caseload includes patients with sports injuries, post-operative orthopedic conditions, neck and back pain, joint replacements, overuse injuries, chronic musculoskeletal disorders, and functional mobility limitations. Responsibilities include delivering evidence-based outpatient orthopedic physical therapy services, supporting staffing needs across multiple rehabilitation locations, evaluating and treating patients with orthopedic and musculoskeletal diagnoses, collaborating with physicians and other healthcare professionals, educating patients on recovery and prevention, and documenting care within the Epic EMR system.

Requirements

Tennessee Physical Therapist license (or eligibility for licensure)
Outpatient orthopedic experience preferred
Strong clinical reasoning and communication skills
Adaptable and team-oriented approach
Ability to travel between Nashville-area clinics
Reliable transportation
Strong weekday availability and scheduling flexibility
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.
Treatment Planning & Goal Setting (Novice): Demonstrates sufficient proficiency in developing a plan of care that incorporates treatment interventions focused on meeting objective goals. Develops and documents patient focused short and long term goals that are functional and measurable. Identifies the need for and referral to other services, as needed.
Rehabilitation Therapist Patient Evaluation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in evaluating patients with physical deficits including impairments, developmental disabilities, functional limitations, disabilities, or changes in physical function by obtaining information pertinent to the assessment and administering and scoring standardized tests and objective measures of deficit areas. 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 to the patient, family, referring physician and other members of the health care team.
Treatment Implementation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in providing treatment consistent with physician prescription and established plan of care. Able to modify treatment plan as needed to demonstrate provision of skilled therapy services including progression of treatment throughout course of care, and revision of treatment interventions of goals not met. May supervise and direct certified athletic trainers (PT only), physical therapist / occupational therapist assistants, technicians and volunteers and students. Selects and follows correct protocol for care and utilize evidence based treatments. Has completed at least one year of clinical experience in treatment implementation.
Physical/Occupational Therapist Patient 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 physical therapy, occupational therapy and athletic training.
Relevant Work Experience
Experience Level : Less than 1 year
Education: Bachelor's

Nice To Haves

Outpatient orthopedic experience

Responsibilities

Analyzes 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.
Deliver evidence-based outpatient orthopedic physical therapy services
Support staffing needs across multiple Vanderbilt rehabilitation locations
Evaluate and treat patients with orthopedic and musculoskeletal diagnoses
Collaborate with physicians, athletic trainers, occupational therapists, and rehabilitation specialists
Educate patients on recovery, injury prevention, and long-term wellness
Document care within Epic EMR and My Health at Vanderbilt/MyChart
Help ensure exceptional patient experiences and clinical outcomes