Rehabilitation team members are licensed or certified professionals (physical therapists, who work within a specific team structure to offer inpatient rehabilitation services. These services are offered to the acute-care hospital, providing therapy services to patients with disorders and conditions associated primarily with traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, or other neurogenic disorders, orthopedic problems, burns, amputations, chronic pain, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease. The rehabilitation team members report to the rehabilitation manager as part of the overall Rehabilitation Services Division structure.
Each rehabilitation team member is first a part of a group effort to provide care within a continuous performance improvement environment, and secondly a distinct professional who provides specific contributions to the team approach. Team members assess patients and establish together plans of care; provide a wide variety of treatment techniques; provide education and support to families; and facilitate continuing care planning. Team members evaluate quality of services and participate in outcomes management activities. Although team members report directly to a manager, they are also responsible to each other, to those they supervise (rehab assistants and aides) and to other participants in patient care activities, including attending and resident physicians, nurses, their support staff, and Patient Care Resource Managers to assure coordination of services and programs. A team member embraces the Intensive Caring values of the organization and uses them to guide interactions with others.The Physical therapist (PT) will also provide specialized treatments to help the patient explore and identify productive avocational interests. Treatments include assessment of interests, introduction to various methods used to explore resources post discharge (use of the internet, identification of local organizations, methods to inquire about resources), exposure to local organizations, and education material to maximize patient post discharge planning. The PT is expected to be the contact for the community link and be a liaison for patients/staff/consumers of Rehabilitation Services.