Senior Radiation Therapist

SunState Medical Specialists•Venice, FL

About The Position

The Lead Radiation Therapist is a role model in demonstrating outstanding clinical assessment, interpretive and treatment delivery skills; and shares these skills with others to ensure the competency of the team and optimal patient outcomes. The incumbent is responsible for facilitating essential communication to the Regional Technical Manager (RTM) and Regional Administrator (RA) and is accountable to the Chief Physicist regarding operational issues. This position does provide direct patient care.

Requirements

Graduate of an approved School for Radiation Therapy.
ARRT Registered Technologist (T)
State licensed (mandatory where required)
Must be in good standing with all CE and license requirements.
CPR certified
Computer literate, to include experience with the following: Record & Verify Applications Treatment Delivery Applications Electronic Medical Record OWAN 21C E-mail DTS Asset IQ 21C Intranet MS Office Suite
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal; good organizational skills; confidentiality; excellent interpersonal skills; positive interaction in dealing with patients.
Complies with and supports all company/departmental policies and procedures.
Consistently exceeds a required level of performance.
Acts as a positive role model in complying with all safety regulation governed by such agencies as OSHA and HIPAA.
Demonstrates knowledge about utilization of proper equipment and body mechanics (lifting) consistently applies this knowledge and shares it with staff members.
Promotes and emphasizes strong teamwork.

Responsibilities

Actively serve as a leader in the radiation therapy department, directly working with other radiation therapists, and other department members.
Participates in specialty areas such as instruction, new simulation procedures, IMRT, IGRT, Stereotactic Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery, Total Body Irradiation, HDR program and is responsible for the safe utilization of the Record and Verify System, including the ability to teach and assist others in the proper use of the system.
Must demonstrate knowledge and ability to perform all aspects of treatment delivery.
Oversees simulation and treatment of patients receiving radiation therapy.
Prepare or construct equipment, such as immobilization, treatment, or protection devices.
Educate, prepare, and reassure patients and their families by answering questions, providing physical assistance, and reinforcing physicians' advice regarding treatment reactions or post-treatment care.
Review prescription, diagnosis, patient chart, and identification before initiating treatment.
Ensure that pre-treatment field checks are completed in a timely manner.
Position patients for treatment and simulation with accuracy, according to prescription.
Administer prescribed doses of radiation to specific body parts, using radiation therapy equipment according to established practices and standards.
Monitors all new patient starts, including boost fields to ensure efficient operations and superior patient care.
Monitors technical accuracy of treatment setups.
Check for side effects, such as skin irritation, nausea, or hair loss to assess patients' reaction to treatment.
Oversees the correct and appropriate use of the electronic medical record.
Establishes and maintains effective relationships with other professions and administrative staff within the department: work with other section heads and individuals (i.e. Dosimetry, Nursing, Physics, and front office) on an ad hoc basis to solve problems and improve patient care and service.
Respond to medical emergencies by calling 911 and notifying the physician, nurse and supervisor on duty immediately.
Document the time 911 is called and the time responders arrive.
Follows up on machine, computer, and other equipment problems
Monitor quality assurance and morning warm-up performed on treatment machines and simulation equipment, including on board imaging and/or portal vision.
Oversee the proper completion of QA forms and logbook.
Ensures the proper process for reporting machine down time is followed.
Follows up on all Machine Problem Reports to ensure proper process reporting is complete per policy.
Assists other departments with matters of proper documentation
Interacts with both internal and external customers professionally
Oversees scheduling of patients and clinical staff to assure appropriate coverage is maintained.
Coordinate weekly chart rounds meeting.
Perform quality assurance review of charts for all patients during treatment.
Coordinates, attends and participates in regularly scheduled technical/clinical staff meetings.
Demonstrates ability to lead and support departmental meetings when called upon by the VP/RVP, RA or RTM.
Conduct regularly scheduled clinical staff meetings no less than once per quarter (preferably monthly) using sign-in sheets to document.
Provide typed meeting minutes and action plans to the RTM and the RA and follow up on pending items.
Responsible for ensuring that required annual competencies, mandatory training and compliance activities are completed.
Maintain a productive relationship with the physics and dosimetry departments.
Establish practice patterns that ensure the timely readiness of treatment plans, including QA for initiating patient treatment and follow-up.
Coordinate call backs and emergency treatments, including afterhours care with Physicians and administration as necessary.
In coordination with the physicians and physicists, develops, maintains and revises continuous quality improvement measures, instituting corrective processes when necessary.
Complies with all reviews and standards established by the department’s Quality Assurance program and the Continuous Quality Improvement committee.
Reconcile the actual daily treatment stats with the EMR and report inaccuracies to the Regional Technical Manager, RA and Medical Coder.
Participates in the clinical instruction and evaluation of Radiation Therapy students.
Train newly employed Radiation Therapists.
Completes clinical staff orientation and progress forms for all new Radiation Therapists, per Technical Services policy and procedures
Assumes lead responsibilities if asked in the absence of another Lead or Sr. Therapist
Responsible for inventory control for supplies and materials used by the radiation therapy section.
Monitors departmental compliance with the regulatory agencies and report deficiencies to the Regional Technical Manager, site Physicist, and Regional Administrator.
Monitor the professional credentials of the clinical staff to ensure all licenses/certifications/registrations are current/good standing, and not expired.
Report employee accidents/occurrences—completion of documentation and follow-up.
Report patient accidents/occurrences—completion of required documentation.
Participate in regulatory and compliance preparedness initiatives and/or projects.
Generate statistical reports as required by Administration i.e. weekly patient forecasts