The incumbent is assigned to the Recreation Therapy Service, Northeast Ohio VA Healthcare System. The incumbent may work in various areas throughout the facility including, Community Living Center, Medical Foster Home, Mental Health, Domiciliary, Polytrauma, and Spinal Cord Injury Center. This is a variable shift, to include weekends and evening, and may change to meet the needs of the patients.

Duties

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Major Duties: The principal duties of the incumbent include independently planning, implementing highly specialized and diversified treatment for patients whose physical and mental condition requires the application of nonstandard and standard treatment procedures and approaches. Interventions include one on one and small group activities, both on and off station. Makes frequent and extensive changes in procedures and approaches if needed to enable the patient to overcome disabilities and continue treatment. Modifies programs and adjusts schedules based on patient care priorities and specific needs that arise on a daily basis. Provides the equipment, materials, instruction, encouragement, or counseling necessary to promote a positive and therapeutic activity. Maintains recreation therapy schedules and calendars in their work area and will trial programs, determining which most are suited based on the individual patient needs. Independently adapts various treatment activities to meet the specific needs of individual patients. Coordinates escort of residents/patients to and from recreation therapy programs and independently conducts recreation therapy programs at bedside, in the facility and in the community. Drives patients to community activities; gives instructions on expectations and observes patients for unpredictable behavior. Physically assists individuals with physical disabilities (ambulatory or non-ambulatory) in getting into and out of the vehicle and around in the community environment. Assist recreation therapist in the development of patient assessments and treatment plans and records workload in the Encounters tab in the electronic medical record within 1 business day of treatment. Evaluates resident/patient response to treatment and provides verbal reports to recreation therapists and other interdisciplinary treatment team members. Assists recreation therapist with the planning and implementation of a wide variety of recreation therapy interventions to address patient treatment needs and treatment plans. Performs all duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Sunday-Thursday 8:00am-4:30pm or 11am-7:30pm and rotating holidays. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

Qualifications

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: possess at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in federal service (GS-5). This experience must be close to the work of this position and given you the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of this Therapy Assistant position. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include work as an assistant to one of the specialized therapies such as occupational, physical, manual arts, corrective, or educational therapy; or experience gained as an assistant or aid in patient care, social work, or psychology where the duties involved actual participation in physical medicine and activities of a hospital or clinic. -or- SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): possess a successfully completed one-half year (9 semester hours) of graduate education with course work that is directly related to the position of this Therapy Assistant position. This education must have been obtained at an accredited college or university. NOTE: you must submit a copy of your transcript with your application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. -or- COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): possess an equivalent combination of directly related graduate level education and specialized experience, as described above. NOTE: Must submit a copy of your transcript with your application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Clinical Data Collection/DocumentationCritical ThinkingCustomer Service (Clerical/Technical)Interpersonal SkillsPatient CareTechnical Competence IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Physical Requirements: The position involves moderately heavy lifting of physically impaired patients while assisting with ambulation duties. The work requires regular and recurring physical exertion such as long periods of standing or walking for prolonged periods of time and over rough, uneven, or rocky surfaces; frequent bending, crouching, reaching, stooping, and stretching or similar activities to set up and take apart equipment and apparatus; recurring lifting of moderately heavy items such as bowling and sports equipment and repositioning patients; and pushing or pulling heavy objects. The work may require specific physical characteristics and abilities such as above-average agility and dexterity to perform intricate therapeutic procedures. The incumbent must be able to push wheelchair patients on level and inclined ground. The incumbent must be physically able to drive the station vehicles and pass the Occupational Health Clinic Motor Vehicle Operator Evaluation. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

NOTE: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System 10701 East Boulevard Cleveland, OH 44106 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]