We are excited to offer a Therapy Assistant Practitioner role on Beech Ward. Beech Ward is a 24‑bed inpatient unit which provides high quality specialist stroke rehabilitation, for adults of all ages. You will be a core member of our interdisciplinary team, working collaboratively with patients and their families to optimise function and level of dependency post stroke.
Some experience of working in stroke rehabilitation and/or neurology is desirable but not essential.
Key Responsibilities
* The assistant practitioner will contribute to the delivery of high standards of rehabilitation to patients following a stroke within the Stroke Rehabilitation Team.
* They will have responsibility for actively participating as a key member of the Stroke Rehabilitation Team and will be expected to communicate with a range of people on a range of matters (including the wider multi‑disciplinary team) within the clinical department and/or ward, community setting and acute settings.
* The assistant practitioner will have a responsibility to provide quality services to patients under the supervision of a registered Therapist.
Clinical Duties
* Assess patients following stroke with straightforward requirements based on predetermined department protocols.
* Prepare for, carry out and monitor assessment, treatments and discharge within therapy/nursing for stroke rehabilitation in line with predetermined department protocols. Tasks may include manual handling, personal care, toileting, mobility exercises, communication and cognitive rehabilitation.
* Carry out and contribute to planned programmes of rehabilitation to meet individual patient and family circumstances related to communication, cognition, emotional and physical impairments resulting from a stroke.
* Apply competency‑based treatment techniques/care to patients with stroke under the supervision of a qualified practitioner, following a prescribed treatment/care plan.
* Promote and encourage independence and restoration of function post stroke including information, education on secondary prevention and self‑management.
* Ensure that patients, families and carers are involved in the planning and implementation of their stroke rehabilitation care plans.
* Modify and progress intervention/treatment using own clinical reasoning, notifying a qualified practitioner accordingly.
* Prepare for and develop individual/group activities to meet defined intervention needs.
* Work predominantly independently on specified tasks, with regular clinical support and supervision by a qualified practitioner.
* Demonstrate problem solving and contribute to the solution, working with colleagues.
* Make basic judgements on patients’ response to prescribed treatment and report findings to a qualified practitioner.
* Liaise with GPs, Social Services, inpatient teams, other allied health care professionals and the voluntary sector to ensure identified needs are met and care coordinated appropriately.
* Participate in multi‑disciplinary/multi‑agency meetings as appropriate.
* Establish and maintain appropriate working relationships with colleagues, patients, carers and other health care professionals.
* Demonstrate dexterity and coordination when undertaking treatment of patients where accuracy is important, e.g. taking blood pressures, urine analysis, supervising transfers, and passive exercises.
* Provide basic equipment and be responsible for ensuring that it is used safely, following appropriate training, and that it is maintained.
* Contribute to the requisitioning of supplies and equipment through electronic ordering systems.
Non‑Clinical Duties
* Share responsibility for maintaining store cupboards, cleaning specialist equipment and general housekeeping and administration tasks.
* Share responsibility for indirect patient contact tasks, such as answering telephones, arranging appointments, processing referrals and inputting activity data.
* Demonstrate basic IT and standard keyboard skills.
* Support senior staff across the integrated stroke pathway with service improvement ideas.
* Have commitment to work within a changing environment; responding positively to new demands and service changes.
Professional Development
* Attend in‑house training as required to develop the current job role.
* Actively contribute to a positive learning environment for students, new starters and/or less experienced staff; be involved in induction programmes for new staff/students as required.
* Be aware of limitations of own scope of practice, and when to involve the supervisor/manager, both in daily practice and in emergency situations.
* Acknowledge and recognise peoples’ expressed beliefs, preferences and choices.
* Identify and explore own contribution to team working through supervision and reflect on own practice.
* Continue to develop extended competencies through reflective practices, clinical supervision and performance reviews.
* Attend relevant training and development in order to maintain and develop skills and knowledge required for the role within the team and disseminate this knowledge through the stroke service.
Communication
* Use appropriate methods of communication with patients, families and carers to maximise rehabilitation and understand their conditions. Barriers to effective communication will regularly be evident (e.g. expressive and receptive dysphasia, cognitive impairment, loss of hearing, pain and depression) and a variety of communication methods may be required.
* Communicate effectively and collaboratively with colleagues across health, voluntary and social sectors to ensure the delivery of a coordinated multi‑disciplinary integrated stroke service. This will include case conferences, handovers, patient‑held documentation and documentation in service records.
* Maintain sensitivity at all times to the emotional needs of patients and their families/carers.
* Have an understanding of the issues that could affect patient capacity in order to gain valid, informed consent.
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