Aural Habilitation Specialist

The staff member assumes responsibility and accountability for a designated group of patients and organizes, performs and modifies medically prescribed therapy programs based upon a thorough evaluation of each patient and best practice methods. Provides auditory/oral habilitation services for hearing-impaired children (inpatient and outpatient) with an emphasis on parent training/counseling in a variety of clinical settings (Hospital and satellite offices). Participates as a member of the cochlear implant team.


Essential Job Functions:

1. Consults with interested families regarding the appropriate placement of their hearing-impaired children at the main hospital or Westchester satellite office.
2. Provides individual and group auditory/oral evaluation and therapy services for hearing-impaired children, including care and use of amplification and assistive devices, auditory training, speech-language therapy, and parent/training/counseling.
3. Coordinates appropriate case management and follow-up of patients including interaction with audiologists, speech pathologists, educators, and other related professionals. May assist related professionals in follow-up evaluation of shared patients. Makes referrals to physicians and other agencies consistent with departmental and professional standards.
4. Maintains accurate, complete, and timely documentation and reports related to patient management. Provides progress reports and holds parent conferences at regular intervals according to departmental protocols.
5. Participates as a member of the cochlear implant team. In addition to the services outline above, as part of the implant team, the Aural Rehabilitation Specialist will: Provide auditory/oral rehabilitation to implanted children and potential candidates. Provide pre-and post-implant counseling and training to parents of same. Perform listening check, and troubleshoot cochlear implant equipment. Report to cochlear implant managing audiologist and coordinator regarding equipment maintenance issues. Provide in-services and coordinate care with school staff regarding cochlear implant candidates and recipients.
6. Participates in the development of protocols and pathways as assigned.
7. Understands the growth and development process and integrates into the delivery of care the age-specific needs of neonatal, pediatric, adolescent, and adult patients.
8. Complies with the ASHA code of ethics and abides by current state laws. Evaluates each assigned patient in terms of current or potential problems which pertain to the employee’s discipline, meeting or exceeding established clinical pathways and protocols for best practice. Seeks guidance in this area as appropriate. Establishes age-specific plan of care and functional goals based on evaluation results, and regularly incorporates other disciplines, patient/family, into treatment planning, documenting the patient/family/caregiver’s understanding of goals, explaining rationale and methods necessary to carry out treatments. Seeks guidance in this area as appropriate.
9. Consistently re-evaluates effectiveness of ongoing therapy, instituting appropriate changes in care plan. Seeks guidance in this area as appropriate. Sets estimated length of treatment with each patient/family facilitating informed decision making with patient/family.
10. Assesses educational needs of the patient, family, caregiver and provides education to meet those needs. Functions as an effective member of the health care team by collaborating appropriately with families, physicians, other rehabilitation staff, nurse case managers, and others within and outside the CMMC system. Complies with professional codes of ethics/standards and abides by current state laws.
11. Participates actively in in-services, including planning educational activities for the team as assigned. Takes the initiative to identify practice issues that could be improved upon for the benefit of the department and patient care, actively participating in at least one departmental project. Communicates information to other health care professionals (nursing staff, physicians, etc.) and laypersons to increase and enhance their knowledge of the role of the Aural Rehabilitation Specialist.
12. Maintains an awareness of coworkers’ caseloads and assists as able. Acts as a resource person for clinical staff and supportive staff. Complies with all hospital and departmental policies and procedures. Complies with scheduling, billing, discharge and medical record procedures. Meets required departmental productivity standards of 75%. Shows an understanding of billing, insurance, and reimbursement issues/requirements. Participates in maintaining work area and equipment in appropriately clean, safe order. Completes required and core competencies in a timely manner.
13. Ability to address conflicts in an appropriate manner, working towards the best interest of the patient/family and department. Maintains positive attitude and enthusiasm toward job, hospital and profession. Assigns tasks to aides, and technicians as appropriate, providing pertinent information and supervision. Participates in supervision/ instruction of students as assigned by education coordinator/team leaders. Participates in orientation of new staff and support staff as assigned in coordination with team leaders/ education coordinator. Actively supports the Hospital’s Customer Service and Continuous Quality Improvement goals through modeling appropriate behaviors and providing a work environment conducive to attaining these goals. Recognizes the need, initiates discussion and implements approved changes to improve the quality of patient care. Prepared to deal with patient emergencies/unusual occurrences with guidance following appropriate hospital/departmental policies.

14. Performs job functions adhering to service principles with customer service focus of innovation, service excellence and teamwork to provide the highest quality care and service to our patients, families, co-workers and others.
REQUIREMENTS


1. Master’s degree in audiology or speech pathology. Certificate of clinical competence in audiology or speech pathology (CCC-A or CCC-SLP) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
2. Licensure in audiology or speech pathology from the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. Eligibility as a provider of services under the Illinois Division of Specialized Care for Children (DSCC).
3. Minimum of two years of pediatric experience with a minimum of one year of auditory rehabilitation experience. Conversational proficiency with sign language. Ability to effectively communicate with Hospital/department staff and with parents, patients, physicians, community groups, and agencies.