Physical Therapist – Acute Care

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

Acute Rehab PT/OT 3

Job Summary:

JOB SUMMARYProvides physical therapy services to patients who have impairments, functional limitations, disabilities, or changes in physical function and health status resulting from injury, disease or other causes under occasional guidance. Actively collaborates with the health care/educational team to meet patient care, outcomes and system improvement objectives.

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Physical Therapist – Acute Care

Location: Vanderbilt Health, Nashville, TNJob Type:  Full-Time | 4x10-hour shifts (Wednesday–Sunday)

Advance Your Physical Therapy Career at Vanderbilt Health

Are you a licensed Physical Therapist passionate about making a difference in an acute care inpatient setting? Join Vanderbilt Health, Middle Tennessee’s largest Level 1 trauma center, and work across diverse hospital units—including ICUs and the emergency department—for unmatched clinical experience and professional growth.

Why Vanderbilt Health?

• Day-One Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, PTO, and retirement plans start immediately

• Career Advancement Ladder: Structured growth from PT Level 1 to Level 4

• Free Continuing Education: Department-hosted CE courses for all staff

• Extensive Orientation: 10–12 weeks of onboarding for success across all hospital areas

• Formal Mentorship Program: Led by our Mentorship Committee for new hires

• Collaborative Culture: Join committees shaping care and innovation

• Nationally Recognized Employer: Known for excellence, innovation, and patient-centered care

Your Impact as a Physical Therapist

• Deliver evidence-based physical therapy evaluations and treatments across multiple inpatient units

• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to create individualized care plans

• Educate patients and families on mobility, safety, and rehabilitation goals

• Document outcomes per hospital and regulatory standards

• Participate in mentorship, quality improvement, and departmental initiatives

Qualifications

• Licensed Physical Therapist (or eligible for Tennessee licensure)

• Minimum 1 year of acute care experience and strong interdisciplinary collaboration skills

Ready to Make a Difference?

Apply today for this Physical Therapist – Acute Care Inpatient role at Vanderbilt Health in Nashville, TN, and join a nationally recognized health system where your skills matter and your growth is supported.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Analyzes comprehensive information from formal and informal assessment that is pertinent to the patient's care and management to determine a rehabilitation treatment diagnosis.

Collaborates with stakeholders in establishing the plan of care, coordinates and implements care delivery while anticipating patient care needs across the rehabilitation continuum.

Applies appropriate, evidence-based interventions to ensure effective outcomes and re-evaluates performance to assess patient's progress towards goals.

Employs strategies to promote successful return to home, community, and school/vocational environments.

The responsibilities listed are a general overview of the position and additional duties may be assigned.TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES

Treatment Planning & Goal Setting (Novice): Demonstrates sufficient proficiency in developing a plan of care that incorporates treatment interventions focused on meeting objective goals. Develops and documents patient focused short and long term goals that are functional and measurable. Identifies the need for and referral to other services, as needed.

Rehabilitation Therapist Patient Evaluation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in evaluating patients with physical deficits including impairments, developmental disabilities, functional limitations, disabilities, or changes in physical function by obtaining information pertinent to the assessment and administering and scoring standardized tests and objective measures of deficit areas. Selects appropriate measures and performs a functional assessment to document patient's status requiring skilled therapy. Interprets the results of the assessment and their significance to the patient, family, referring physician and other members of the health care team.

Treatment Implementation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in providing treatment consistent with physician prescription and established plan of care. Able to modify treatment plan as needed to demonstrate provision of skilled therapy services including progression of treatment throughout course of care, and revision of treatment interventions of goals not met. May supervise and direct certified athletic trainers (PT only), physical therapist / occupational therapist assistants, technicians and volunteers and students. Selects and follows correct protocol for care and utilize evidence based treatments. Has completed at least one year of clinical experience in treatment implementation.

Rehab Therapist Patient Documentation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in documentation practices. Documents in the appropriate templates and utilizes only approved abbreviations within patient documentation. Meets institutional standards for quality and timeliness of documentation.

Physical/Occupational Therapist Patient Education (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in communicating functional impact of assessment findings, treatment interventions, treatment planning diagnosis, and disease process. Considers the communication needs/level of understanding of audience and may share appropriate information/literature. May supervise, educate and train students from professional programs of physical therapy, occupational therapy and athletic training.

Allied health is among the fastest growing occupations in healthcare today. This area can be defined as credentialed professionals who perform supportive, diagnostic, and therapeutic health care services to promote health and prevent disease in a variety of settings.

These areas are crucial to Vanderbilt Health’s reputation for excellence in these areas that has made us a major center for patient referrals from throughout the Mid-South.

Each year, people throughout Tennessee and the southeast choose Vanderbilt Health for their health care because of our leadership in medical science and our dedication to treating patients with dignity and compassion.

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Core Accountabilities:

Organizational Impact: Delivers job responsibilities that impact own job area/team with some guidance.

Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Uses existing procedures, research and analysis to solve standard job related problems that may require some judgement. Breadth of Knowledge: Requires subject matter knowledge within a professional area to meet job requirements. Team Interaction: Individually contributes to project/ work teams.

Core Capabilities :

Supporting Colleagues: - Develops Self and Others: Continuously improves own skills by identifying development opportunities.- Builds and Maintains Relationships: Seeks to understand colleagues priorities, working styles and develops relationships across areas.- Communicates Effectively: Openly shares information with others and communicates in a clear and courteous manner. Delivering Excellent Services:- Serves Others with Compassion: Invests time to understand the problems, needs of others and how to provide excellent service.- Solves Complex Problems: Seeks to understand issues, solves routine problems, and raises proper concerns to supervisors in a timely manner.- Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Listens carefully to understand the issues and provides accurate information and support. Ensuring High Quality: - Performs Excellent Work: Checks work quality before delivery and asks relevant questions to meet quality standards.- Ensures Continuous Improvement: Shows eagerness to learn new knowledge, technologies, tools or systems and displays willingness to go above and beyond.- Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Demonstrates basic knowledge of conditions that affect safety and reports unsafe conditions to the appropriate person or department. Managing Resources Effectively :- Demonstrates Accountability: Takes responsibility for completing assigned activities and thinks beyond standard approaches to provide high-quality work/service.- Stewards Organizational Resources: Displays understanding of how personal actions will impact departmental resources.- Makes Data Driven Decisions: Uses accurate information and good decision making to consistently achieve results on time and without error. Fostering Innovation: - Generates New Ideas: Willingly proposes/accepts ideas or initiatives that will impact day-to-day operations by offering suggestions to enhance them.- Applies Technology: Absorbs new technology quickly; understands when to utilize the appropriate tools and procedures to ensure proper course of action.- Adapts to Change: Embraces changes by keeping an open mind to changing plans and incorporates change instructions into own area of work.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

LIC-Physical Therapy License- Tennessee

Work Experience:

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level :

Less than 1 year

Education:

Doctorate

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity.  EOE/Vets/Disabled.