Massage Therapist - Per Diem

About the role

The Massage Therapist provides massage therapy to patients under the Palliative Care Program. The role involves identifying, assessing, planning, and implementing appropriate massage care plans for inpatient residents to improve muscle tone, circulation, range of motion, and to address physical symptoms related to illness or disease progression. The therapist functions as a resource for the palliative care team through consultation and educational offerings, supporting the agency’s mission to deliver high-quality care by complying with regulatory guidelines, meeting agency standards, and maintaining appropriate certification.

Responsibilities

• Uses evidence-based treatments/modalities to address patient needs and preferences.
• Demonstrates understanding of illness and potential complications or side effects of treatments.
• Maintains a caseload and ensures accurate and timely individualized assessment, planning, implementation, and documentation.
• Ensures each patient is assessed and that treatment is evaluated using evidence-based practice, including improvement of muscle tone, circulation, range of motion, and physical symptoms related to illness.
• Develops a plan of care in conjunction with the patient and family.
• Acts professionally and is legally accountable for all aspects of work.
• Monitors and reviews the effectiveness of therapy and modifies it as necessary to support the patient’s treatment plan.
• Discusses patient suitability for massage therapy with the Palliative Care Program Manager and the Interdisciplinary Team as needed.
• Participates in interdisciplinary case conferences and acts as a clinical resource for the team.
• Communicates promptly with the Palliative Care Program Manager or designee and the multidisciplinary team regarding patient issues while maintaining confidentiality.
• Acts as the patient’s advocate in relation to Massage Therapy.
• Provides comfort care at end of life.
• Designs workshops and teaches basic massage and self-help techniques for staff, patients, and families.
• Performs aggregate data collection of service delivery for quality development and/or research.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Graduate of an accredited school of Massage Therapy.
• Currently licensed as a Massage Therapist by the State of New York.
• Minimum of 500 hours of training plus a minimum of 3 years of working with the medically fragile population.
• At least 1 year of clinical experience with the pediatric population, preferably involving end of life care.