Speech Pathologist

Primary Purpose: Works to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders in children and adults.

Routine Decision Making: Prioritizes by identifying more critical and less critical activities and tasks; adjusts priorities when appropriate.

Formal Supervisory Responsibility: No formal supervisor responsibility.

Age Specific Competencies: Provides care for pediatric/child patients (3 yrs-6 yrs); child (7yrs -11 yrs); adolescent patients between 12 to 18 years of age; adult patients between 18 to 64 years; and geriatric patients 65 years and older.

Essential Responsibilities and Tasks

All essential responsibilities and tasks are performed while meeting or exceeding Cass Regional’s Patient Satisfaction goals as measured by the established patient satisfaction survey.

Prepares for and performs speech, language, cognitive, voice and swallow evaluations and subsequent treatment as indicated.  (95% of time)

• Diagnosing, treating, and preventing communication, cognitive and swallowing disorders.
• Creating treatment and therapy plans to suit the individualized needs of a diverse population of patients.
• Performing screenings to detect communication, cognitive or swallowing disorders.
• Educating patients and family members about speech disorders and causes, including disabilities and traumatic events.
• Keeping detailed records relating to patient conditions, evaluations, treatment and progress.
• Reporting progress and current status to appropriate parties, which may include family members, and medical professionals.

Operations of the speech-language pathology program. (5% of time)

• Reviews departmental policies and procedures and hospital directives, annually.
• Incorporates information obtained from in-services, educational seminars and journal studies to clinical areas within reasonable timeframes.
• Participates in Performance Improvement initiatives established within the department and assists in generating results for review of effectiveness.

ESSENTIAL PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Medium Work:  Lifting 100# maximum with frequent lifting and/or carrying of objects weighing up to 25#.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Lifting:  Raising or lowering an object from one level to another (includes upward pulling).
• Carrying:  Transporting an object, usually holding it in hands or arms or on the shoulders.
• Balancing:  Maintaining body equilibrium to prevent falling when walking, standing, crouching, or running on a narrow, slippery, or erratically moving surfaces; or maintaining body equilibrium when performing gymnastic feats.
• Hearing:  Ability to determine audible communication.
• Stooping:  Bending the body downward and forward by bending the spine at the waist.
• Kneeling:  Bending the legs at the knees to come to rest on the knee or knees.
• Crouching:  Bending the body downward and forward by bending the legs and spine.
• Reaching:  Extending the hands and arms in any direction.
• Handling:  Seizing, holding, grasping, turning, or otherwise working with the hand or hands (fingering not involved).
• Fingering:  Picking, pinching, or otherwise working with the fingers primarily (rather than with the whole hand or arms as in handling).
• Repetitive Motions:  Substantial movements (motions) of the wrist, hands, and/or fingers.
• Speaking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word.  Those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• Seeing:  Obtaining impressions through the eyes of the shape, size, distance, motion, color or other characteristics of objects.
• Acuity, far - clarity of vision at 20 feet or more.
• Acuity, near - clarity of vision at 20 inches or less.
• Depth perception - ability to judge distance and space relationships so as to see objects where and as they actually are.
• Field of vision - area seen up and down or to the right or left while eyes are fixed.
• Accommodations - adjustment of the lens of the eye to bring an object into sharp focus.
• Color vision- the ability to identify and distinguish colors.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Inside:  Worker spends approximately 100% of time inside.
• Noise and Vibration:  Sufficient noise, either constant or intermittent to cause marked distraction or possible injury to the sense of hearing and /or sufficient vibration (production of an oscillating movement or strain on the body or its extremities from repeated motion or shock) to cause bodily harm if endured day after day.

Education and Certification/ Registration required for the Position: Master’s degree in Speech Pathology or related field required. A minimum of one-year work experience preferred. Experience in video swallows required. Holds ASHA's Certificate of Clinical Competence and maintains MO state licensure.

Required Knowledge: Knowledge of the principles and techniques of communication, cognitive, and swallowing pathology and use of instructional methods within the profession.

Required Skills and Ability: Skill in implementing protocols associated with a speech-language pathology program.