Occupational Therapist at Napa Center Inc. in Niles, IL

Position Overview:

Occupational Therapists provide services to develop, enhance or restore functional skills of clients whose abilities to perform tasks of daily living are threatened or impaired by physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and sensory impairments.

Occupational Therapists at NAPA Center provide skillful intervention to infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents with a variety of diagnoses with a focus on improving the client’s development in the areas of fine and gross motor skills, play skills, social skills, and self-care skills within the professional scope of practice. The role will require all therapists to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Assessment, diagnosis, and treatment with documentation of motor deficits, functional impairments, sensory impairments, and difficulties in motor skills primarily in the pediatric population.
• Possess general knowledge of child development to assess and refer families to other disciplines when appropriate.
• Assess a client’s physical condition using a variety of standardized tools and objective/observational measures and identify primary impairments to determine a plan for treatment.
• Utilize multiple frames of reference to inform practice including but not limited to: neurodevelopmental, developmental biomechanical, sensory integration, motor learning, cognitive, and rehabilitation.
• Create tailored treatment plans to address client’s limitations, taking into account their age, abilities, client and family goals, and other medical/physical factors.
• Apply a range of therapy techniques to address presented conditions (including tailored exercises, passive and active stretching, basic level of gait analysis and training).
• Patient/caregiver training in the use of assistive technology devices, mobility devices, orthotic or prosthetic devices.
• Prescribe home exercise programs for patient/caregiver to promote carryover and continued progress in the community.
• Adapt environments and processes to enhance functional performance of clients.
• Actively participate in professional development including continuing education opportunities provided through the organization, from outside providers, as well as through opportunities offered as part of regular clinical supervision.
• Maintain impeccable documentation. Therapists have a dedicated documentation hour built into their schedule each day and are expected to use this time for report writing, including but not limited to evaluations, progress reports, school district annual IEP reports, and assistive technology. Therapists are expected to ensure that treatment notes are recorded accurately and timely in the electronic health record system, according to the policies of NAPA Center.
• Act as a member of an interdisciplinary team to create a comprehensive developmental approach to client-centered care.
• Develop rapport with clients to build a relationship of trust and mutual respect.
• Work closely with administrative staff to manage the schedule and ensure that time is being used productively.
• Provide input into the development of clinical practices and procedures.
• Act in accordance with all company, legal and industry policies and ethics.
• Comply with all professional development requirements for maintenance of registration as an Occupational Therapist with the appropriate licensing board.
• Work in a healthy and safe manner and encourage others to do the same.

Benefits:

• Medical, dental and vision insurance, in addition to non-medical options such as hospital indemnity and critical illness.
• Paid time off accruals immediately upon start.
• Personal time (12 hours annually to be used for appointments that cannot be made outside of work hours).
• Wellness program with stipend to be used for an appointment that focuses on physical and mental wellness.
• Professional development allowance of $500 upon each year of qualifying service, with the ability to roll to the next year, up to $1,000 total.
• Step program that allows for increased clinical skills and additional compensation during the annual review for each level achieved.
• Growing families program that allows increased compensation for 1 - 2 years following the birth or adoption of child.
• International opportunities in London and Australia.
• 12-week training opportunities and ongoing mentorship throughout employment.

Company Values

All NAPA Center employees must demonstrate the company’s core values which include:

• Love –NAPA is a family business built on the love that parents have for their children. Embody NAPA’s spirit of love through kind actions, warmth and communication used every day.
• Share - strive to collaborate and educate as part of the NAPA team, so that our clients and their families leave NAPA with positivity and hope.
• Grow – evolve, engage and continue to learn, from our clients, our colleagues and our industry so that we truly offer the best therapy possible.
• Hope – believe in the potential of every child and commit to helping them succeed, giving families hope when others have failed.

Requirements

• Minimum qualifications include completion of an Occupational Therapy degree, from an accredited University.
• Strong clinical experience - at least 2 years post graduate OT experience preferred, preferably in a pediatric setting with exposure to children and/or young adults with complex disabilities.
• Background clearance by the DOJ and FBI.
• Initial TB test clearance.
• CPR and First Aid certificates.
• Current license with the appropriate licensing board.
• Good physical health and fitness, including the ability to frequently perform, on a daily basis, the following movements over a 6-8 hour period without experiencing pain or abnormal fatigue:

1. • 1. Lift, push or pull up to and including 50 pounds with hands and wrists as therapeutic handling is manually intensive
        2. Independently transfer dependent patients up to 85 pounds
        3. Independently offer contact guard assistance for ambulatory patients of up to 125 pounds
        4. Maintain extended periods of standing and/or sitting on the floor for up to 7 hours per day
        5. Move from floor to standing position back to floor frequently (6-7 hours) throughout the day
   • Create a safe, professional, and supportive environment where clients, families and colleagues feel empowered to succeed.
   • Ability to communicate confidently and effectively with clients and other medical professionals.
   • Display a level of professional empathy towards clients and the ability to develop rapport.
   • Maintain appropriate professional boundaries with clients and their families.
   • Exercise discipline by completing all documentation, reporting requirements and training in an accurate and timely manner.
   • Team player that can demonstrate the values for working as part of multi-disciplinary team to advance a client’s needs.
   • Demonstrates the ability to take on additional responsibilities with time, including assessment and development of treatment plans for more complex cases, supervision of therapy aides/volunteers and additional clinic responsibilities.
   • Ability to travel for periods of time for training/treating may be required. Assessment, diagnosis, and treatment with documentation of motor deficits, functional impairments, sensory impairments, and difficulties in motor skills primarily in the pediatric population.

Physical Demands:

Good physical health and fitness, including the ability to frequently perform, daily, the following movements over a 6–8 hour period without experiencing pain or abnormal fatigue:

• Lift, push or pull up to and including 50 pounds with hands and wrists as therapeutic handling is manually intensive
• Independently pivot or standing transfer max A patients up to 85 pounds
• Independently offer contact guard assistance for ambulatory patients of up to 125 pounds
• Maintain extended periods of standing and/or sitting on the floor for up to 7 hours per day