Speech Pathologist - PRN

Good Neighbor Society

Speech Pathologist - PRN

Job Description

Overview of Role/Essential Job Functions

The main goal of a Speech Pathologist with the Good Neighbor Society is to evaluate and record an injured/ill residents’ improvement and rehabilitation process. They will assess and treat residents who have speech, language, fluency disorders, or problems swallowing.

Every effort has been made to make your job description as complete as possible. However, it in no way states or implies that these are the only duties you will be required to perform. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or is a logical assignment to the position. 

Resident Rights/ Safety/ Staff Development

 Residents Rights

• Knows and respects residents’ rights
• Ensures protected health information is kept confidential
• Reports complaints made by residents to supervisor
• Reports allegations of resident abuse, neglect and/or misappropriation of resident property

 Safety and Sanitation

• Follows established safety policies and procedures
• Observes safety needs of residents as indicated in care plan
• Wears and/or uses safety equipment and supplies when indicated and properly trained to use
• Demonstrates job-specific knowledge of fire and disaster preparedness during drills or actual situations

Staff Development

• Attends and participates in scheduled in-service training, online educational classes and meetings to maintain current certification as applicable and as managed by regulatory agencies and company policies.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate levels of speech, language, or swallowing difficulty
• Identify clients' goals for treatment
• Create and carry out an individualized treatment plan that addresses specific functional needs
• Teach clients how to make sounds, improve their voices, and maintain fluency
• Help clients improve vocabulary and sentence structure
• Work with clients to develop and strengthen the muscles used to swallow
• Counsel clients and their families on how to cope with communication and swallowing disorders
• Provides screenings and evaluations to determine requirements for skilled speech therapy intervention relative to patient’s prior level of function. This includes but is not limited to the following areas: swallowing disorders, dysphagia, and communication disorders.
• Develops and implements treatment plans that focus on functional and measurable outcomes, based on physicians' orders and adheres to professional standards of practice.
• Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatment plans as needed.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date patient records.
• Collaborate with, coordinate, and participate in training programs for community staff, patients, families, and rehabilitation staff.
• Participate in continuous quality improvement activities
• Serves and protects the nursing facility community by adhering to professional standards, facility policies and procedures, federal, state, and local requirements.

Education/ Experience/ Qualifications/ Physical Demands

  Education and Experience

• Master’s degree in speech-language pathology

  Qualifications and Physical Demands

• Analytical skills. Speech-language pathologists must select appropriate diagnostic tools and evaluate results to identify goals and develop a treatment plan.
• Communication skills. Speech-language pathologists need to explain test results, diagnoses, and proposed treatments in a way that individuals and their families can understand. They also must be clear and concise in written reports.
• Compassion. Speech-language pathologists may work with people who are frustrated by their communication difficulties. They must understand and be supportive of these clients and their families.
• Critical-thinking skills. Speech-language pathologists must be deliberate in making assessments to create treatment plans tailored to individual needs.
• Detail oriented. Speech-language pathologists must comprehensive notes on clients' progress to ensure that they continue receiving proper treatment.
• Listening skills. Speech-language pathologists must pay attention to hear the clients' communication difficulties and determine a course of action.

Working Conditions/ Principal Contacts

 Working Conditions

• Some exposure to disagreeable conditions including odors, infection, illness, and physical contact from disruptive residents

  Principal Contacts

• Works with elderly residents, families, and other health care staff member

General Requirements

Must be able to execute the terms and conditions set forth in the Good Neighbor Society Handbook, including, but not limited to:

• Works in a safety-conscious manner, which ensures that safe work practices are used in order not to pose a risk to self or others in the workplace. Reports any safely violations or hazards to supervisor.
• Complies with company policies and procedures and local, state, and federal regulations.
• Adheres to policy on Drug-Free Workplace
• Interacts in a tactful, diplomatic, and humanistic manner with residents, families, visitors, and co-workers to provide a safe, efficient, and therapeutically effective caring environment which ensures the self-respect, personal dignity, rights and physical safety of each resident and facility guest.
• Maintains a dependable attendance record and adheres to standards of cleanliness, grooming, hygiene, and dress code.
• Takes positive action to ensure equal opportunity in the conduct of all business activities without regard to race, color, religion, sex/gender, age, national origin, disability, citizenship, veteran status or any other legal protected category.

• I have read/reviewed the job description for the position of Speech Pathologist, acknowledge that all items are essential to the job, understand what the job demands, and agree that I am able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation.