Writing a great job description is a crucial piece of hiring and useful for discovering top talent. Recruiters and hiring managers have more on their plates than sorting through piles of applicants who don’t hit the mark. A well-written posting enables you to filter out unqualified applicants or those not enthusiastic about joining your team. Spending time in the beginning to create a spot-on posting before the applications begin pouring into your inbox will save hours of your time. To help you draft a good posting, below is a Physical Therapy Aide job description sample.
Physical Therapy Aide Job summary
You will be a crucial component of the physical therapy team by helping physical therapists present quality care to their patients. You will coordinate future visits, participate in hands-on projects, and work behind the scenes. You are also responsible for maintaining a clean and well-prepped treatment area and helping patients prepare for treatment. You may also be expected to perform clerical tasks such as ensuring essential items are available and completing paperwork, including maintaining patient records.
Physical Therapy Aide Job Responsibilities and Duties:
- Prepare for upcoming therapy sessions by establishing the treatment areas based on the patient’s requirements
- Clean therapy areas and set up any necessary equipment
- Observe the patient’s development during therapy sessions and note how they respond
- Accurately document the usefulness and helpfulness of specific treatments for patients
- Direct, prompt, protect, and support patients’ exercises and functional activities under the guidance of medical staff
- Move patients to and from treatment areas, providing standing support or utilizing wheelchairs
- Ensure patients are secure on therapy equipment
- Consult with physical therapy staff and others to review and assess patient notes for preparation, modification, and coordination of treatment
- Administer passive and active manual therapeutic exercises, therapeutic massage, and electrical, water, sound, light, and heat treatments, such as ultrasound
- Test patients’ range-of-joint motion, vital signs, and body parts to determine outcomes of treatments or for patient evaluations
- Fit patients for supportive devices, orthopedic braces, and prostheses
- Administer traction to relieve back and neck pain, using static and intermittent traction equipment
Physical Therapy Aide Skills and Qualifications
- High school diploma, GED, or equivalent
- Current Healthcare Provider BLS certification
- 1+ year of outpatient PT aide experience
- 1+ year of related patient care experience
- Ability to coordinate PT exercise programs and modalities safely and according to industry-accepted standards
- Strong computer and customer service skills
Company Profile
Logan Rehabilitation Group strives to provide thorough, practical, affordable, and convenient care. We emphasize individual treatment plans combined with patient education to promote a healthy return to activities with knowledge of injury prevention. Our nationally board-certified and licensed therapists and support staff focus on the needs of each patient. We are a dynamic, multi-disciplinary outpatient physical rehabilitation clinic skilled at treating patients with a variety of diagnoses, such as orthopedic, pediatrics, industrial injuries, geriatrics, neurology, and more. Our dedication to teamwork, continuing education opportunities, and patient care are an integral part of the outstanding and diverse rehabilitation services we provide our patients.
Writing a Job Description Best Practices
- While the above is an exemplary Physical Therapy Aide job description sample, there are times when you will not have a model to follow. Below are some essential best practices for those instances, along with helpful do’s and don’ts to ensure that you create the job posting the first time correctly, and save yourself the hassle of weeding through stacks of unqualified candidates.
- Do provide specifics to ensure that applicants fully understand the position’s requirements.
- Do list expectations and responsibilities essential to performing the function.
- Don’t use terms that raise discrimination questions.
- Do describe the work pace with accurate adjectives, such as deadline-driven.
- Do include salary and benefits unless it against company policy.
- Do base the position description on the needs of the department.
- Don’t rely on terms that are subject to different interpretations.
- Don’t use brand names or acronyms in the description.
- Do be aware of the audience and ensure they understand accurately the functions of the role and the corporate environment.
The Physical Therapy Aide job description sample above is a standout representation of a valuable posting to help attract the best performers to your business. Investing the time it takes to write a good position description up front results into a substantial return later when you supplement your team with the sharpest and most current talent available.
Physical Therapy Aide Job Responsibilities
From the moment jobseekers read your company’s physical therapy aide job description, they should have a fundamental understanding of what they need to do in this role. You do not want to be too vague to where a candidate has no idea what the position truly entails. You also do not want to provide a laundry list in the job responsibilities section to where jobseekers do not know what is most important and what is least important.
You should list the physical therapy aide job responsibilities with bullet points. The first couple should be the more important duties. As you go down the list, you can include responsibilities that are still important but are perhaps performed less often. It is also recommended to include information in the bullet points related to who the applicant is going to report to in the organization.
The following list is a good example of what you may find on a typical physical therapy aide job description:
- Instruct patients on how to perform certain exercises and motivate them to always do their best
- Assist patients who need to get in specialized equipment
- Maintain equipment to ensure it remains in good working condition
- Clean work area regularly and disinfect equipment and tools
- Help transport patients with mobility issues from one area to another
Physical Therapy Aide Job Specifications
You need to convey vital information in the job qualifications and skills section of your physical therapy aide job description. This section needs to include important information, such as any degrees applicants need to have or foreign languages applicants need to speak. This is also where you can include personality traits. Since physical therapy aides often have to work with the public, it can be good to mention that applicants should have personable demeanors and get along well with everyone.
Any hiring managers who have trouble figuring out what physical therapy aide job specifications to include have an extremely easy solution open to them. They should speak with people at the company who work as physical therapy aides. Hiring managers can even reach out to people who worked as aides at the organization in the past to acquire their input. Take your time compiling essential information because it ultimately makes the application process go by much more smoothly.
Some skills that would look good on a physical therapy aide job description include:
- Athletic or exercise science background preferred
- CPR certification required
- Energetic team player who is good with the public
- Exceptional communication skills
- Ability to work independently