Peer Liaison- Vocational Services

About Shepherd Center

With five decades of experience, Shepherd Center provides world-class clinical care, research, and family support for people experiencing the most complex conditions, including spinal cord and brain injuries, multi-trauma, traumatic amputations, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. An elite center ranked by U.S. News as one of the nation’s top hospitals for rehabilitation, Shepherd Center is also recognized as both Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems. Shepherd is the only rehabilitation facility in the nation with an intensive care unit on-site, allowing us to care for the most complex patients and begin the rehabilitation process sooner. Shepherd Center treats thousands of patients annually with unmatched expertise and unwavering compassion to help them begin again.

Shepherd Center's culture is one of hope, humor, and hard work. You will enjoy career growth, strong relationships with co-workers, strong support from leadership, and fun activities that have kept over 12% of staff members working at Shepherd for more than 20 years.

Responsibilities

• Provides individuals with an opportunity to meet and talk with others who share similar experiences and circumstances.
• Directly interacts with patients and their families, helping reach their goals for community re-entry, facilitating patients' best outcomes, and providing emotional relatability, community inclusion, and opportunities for education.
• Performs as a patient/family peer and may assist in training and onboarding program volunteers.
• Assesses patients' and families' peer support needs and assists interdisciplinary in obtaining best patient/family outcomes.
• Participates in professional presentations.
• May provide co-treatments with therapy staff to demonstrate ADLs.
• Leads inpatient self-care classes.
• Becomes familiar with EMR for purposes of gathering patient information.
• Observes patients and families as potential future volunteers if they successfully integrate into the community.
• Meets regularly with the patients/family members and documents interactions.
• May assist with collecting information for research projects.
• May participate in community outings.
• Fosters clients'/family independence, growth, and development through shared experience and commonality.
• Encourages patients and family members' participation in education classes and therapy sessions.
• Helps to facilitate peer support community meetings.
• May participate in social media efforts to keep them engaging.
• Sets and meets high professional standards with strong personal ownership.
• Analyzes multiple complex situations to create and implement solutions; works effectively in a team environment.
• Communicates clearly and accurately in both verbal and written modes.
• Focuses on details, coordinates, and prioritizes multiple projects simultaneously.
• Fosters and maintains a commitment to outstanding customer service reflecting Shepherd Center’s mission and pillars of excellence.
• Practices proper safety techniques in accordance with Center and departmental policies and procedures.
• Reports employee/patient/visitor injuries or accidents, or other safety issues to the supervisor and in the occurrence notification system.
• Monitors and ensures compliance with all regulatory requirements, organizational standards, and policies and procedures related to area of responsibility.
• Identifies potential risk areas within area of responsibility and supports problem resolution process.

Requirements

• A minimum of at least 1 year of life experience with their disability.
• Excellent judgment, communication skills, and empathy.
• Self-motivated, dependable, able to meet deadlines, and excellent time management skills.
• Ability to appropriately handle sensitive and confidential information and communications.
• Knowledge of medical terminology applicable to the role.

Qualifications

None required for minimum education. No professional certifications required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Intermediate to Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite software products.
• High school diploma or equivalent.

Physical Demands

• Moving about the hospital from floor to floor, in and out of patient rooms, gyms, and activity areas.
• Boarding and riding on Shepherd transportation vehicles for community outings.
• May be asked to perform personal ADLs.

Working Conditions

• Mostly indoors on campus.
• Some potential for exposure to blood and body fluids.
• Some local travel for presentations.
• May be exposed to outdoor elements, including heat and cold.