Recreation Therapist

This position is a Recreation Therapist with the Rehabilitation Care Services (RCS) of the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System located in Seattle, Washington. Recruitment/Relocation Incentive may be authorized for highly qualified candidates. PRINCIPALES MISSIONS : Duties will vary by grade. At the GS-11 full performance level of the grade, the incumbent serves as a member of a multi-disciplinary treatment team recommending treatment objectives and goals. Responsible for providing assessment and treatment interventions. Employs therapeutic objectives which are complex because of the severe and multiple disabilities regularly encountered. Duties will include: Interpret and administer physicians' recreation therapy consults/orders, schedules patient for treatment and integrates recreation/creative arts interventions with other treatments in order to achieve the goals established for the patient. Develop treatment plans and administer therapeutic recreation interventions which are directed to such goals as sensory integration, ambulation, diminishing emotional stress, community re-entry, reality orientation, muscular dysfunction and reorientation, treatment of psychosocial dysfunction, providing a sense of achievement and progress and channeling energies into acceptable forms of behavior. Teach independent living skills, social interaction skills, adjustment and coping skills, pre-vocational or work adjustment skills, power wheelchair, manual wheelchair and other mobility device community training, aquatic therapy techniques, adaptive sports and community transportation planning and safety. Interview Veterans with severe and/or multiple diagnoses that require unconventional interview approaches and treatments to devise effective methods and procedures. Assess the need for and the patient's ability to use adaptive equipment including ADL aides, power wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs and other mobility devices, assistive technology, etc. in the community setting. Administer, score, or interpret a variety of creative, leisure and motor skills assessments. Evaluate the assigned patient's mental, emotional, social and physical capabilities to determine the patient's needs in recreation therapy. Develop therapeutic programs for various types of disabilities which include psychiatric diagnoses, dementia, neuromuscular disorders, orthopedic conditions, amputation, paralysis, spinal cord injury, head injury, respiratory disorders, chronic cardiovascular diseases, visual impairment and patients with multiple diagnoses. Administer mental and physical assessments for patients with severe and/or multiple diagnoses and oversees the administration and interpretation of assessments. Guide recreation therapy assistants in the correct methods of administering and interpretation of assessment results. Function as a core team member of a clinical multi-disciplinary team for the purpose of providing total health care delivery to the patient, and continuity of care by sharing ideas and exchanging pertinent information. Coordinate a wide range of interventions with other services in the development of appropriate patient treatment programs. Document patient care using the electronic medical record and updates per medical documentation policy to reflect current status of patients. Prepare and submits initial, progress and discharge notes (in accordance with service policy). Perform regular assessments and leisure diagnostic evaluations to determine the appropriate treatment in conjunction with the interdisciplinary treatment team/physician. Discuss progress with treatment team, suggests adjustments to interventions based on sound professional arguments. Select, adapt, and adjust recreation modalities in accordance with rehabilitation goals. Independently modifies techniques and develops new approaches as necessary to ensure realization of patient treatment goals. Responsible for one or more programs such as Physical Fitness Reactivation, Community Reintegr

Salaire : $56,715 – $109,122/Per Year | Avantages : http://www.vacareers.va.gov/why-choose-va/benefits/index.asp

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to Veterans? VA Puget Sound Healthcare System (VAPSHCS) is a Level 1a major interdisciplinary teaching healthcare system with two divisions and multiple community-based outpatient clinics (CBOC). It is considered the most complex VA healthcare system nationwide. VAPSHCS has Emergency services and a full complement of specialty medical, surgical, psychiatric, critical care, and rehabilitation service-lines. VAPSHCS houses two Community Living Centers, a Spinal Cord Injury Unit, Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Blind Rehabilitation, Domiciliary, and Home-Based Primary Care Services.