What does a pediatric physical therapist do?
Pediatric physical therapists are specialized in improving the lives as well as the everyday tasks of children who suffer from a vast range of injuries and congenital disorders. Their primary duty is to aid the child and their family to help each child to reach their optimum potential to work independently and to encourage active engagement at home, in school, as well as in the community. Other responsibilities include assessing and providing treatment for impediments in motor skills as well as evaluating the child's strength, posture, flexibility, pace, coordination, balance, and sensory processing. Additionally, they are trained to examine the motor progress using specification testing for age equivalents.
Pediatric physical therapist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real pediatric physical therapist resumes:
- Achieve high level of patients satisfaction due to sound clinical management, quality of care and compassion.
- Experience in administering modalities including: NMES, IFC, iontophoresis, ultrasound, and cervical traction.
- Evaluate and write letters of necessity to obtain adaptive equipment including: mobility devices, adaptive seating device and positioning devices.
- Start OT career at Eisenhower as regular staff OTR; continue to work often as long-term/temporary OTR.
- Evaluate patients in medical and surgical ICU and provide ROM and ambulation exercises and prepare them for the discharge.
- Educate patients on performing daily living activities and the use of supportive equipment such as crutches, wheelchairs and canes.
- Participate in wound-care treatment and help patients adapt to the use of wheelchairs, braces, canes, crutches and walker.
- Evaluate and treat patients on the acute floors including orthopedic, cardiac, pulmonary, ICU, and general surgery floors.
- Complete rehabilitation sections of MDS.
- Demonstrate excellent initiative and professional development skills as per CI report.
- Facilitate the rehabilitation and attainment of developmental milestones of children in an out-patient setting.
- Perform seating and positioning evaluations; ADL and transfer training; energy conservation/work simplification education.
- Evaluate and treat patients with developmental disabilities in ICF and residential institution with children and adults.
- Work collaboratively with other physical therapists, PTAs, occupational therapists, physicians, and medical technicians.
- Perform all administrative duties for the rehabilitation department including mandate MDS assessments in compliance with Medicare/Medicaid requirements.
Pediatric physical therapist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 25% of Pediatric Physical Therapists are proficient in Patients, Patient Care, and Rehabilitation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Dexterity, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Pediatric Physical Therapists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 25%
Developed appropriate treatment plans and educated patients and family members on appropriate home exercise programs and lifestyle changes.
- Patient Care, 12%
Earned reputation for excellence in patient care.
- Rehabilitation, 9%
Provided mentorship to new pediatric physical therapists with emphasis specialty in pre- and post- operative rehabilitation techniques.
- Autism, 6%
Implemented Occupational Therapy evaluations and services to children with special needs including autism, development disabilities, and emotional disorders.
- Home Health, 6%
Treated patients as an occupational therapist in acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, pulmonary rehabilitation, outpatient, and home health settings
- Physical Therapy, 4%
Provide physical therapy interventions to children with severe disabilities and compromised health status, in an educational setting.
Common skills that a pediatric physical therapist uses to do their job include "patients," "patient care," and "rehabilitation." You can find details on the most important pediatric physical therapist responsibilities below.
Detail oriented. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a pediatric physical therapist to have is detail oriented. Their role and responsibilities require that "like other healthcare providers, physical therapists should have strong analytic and observational skills to diagnose a patient’s problem, evaluate treatments, and provide safe, effective care." Pediatric physical therapists often use detail oriented in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "detail oriented documentation of client progress, home therapy plans, and discharge summaries. "
Dexterity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling pediatric physical therapist duties is dexterity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "physical therapists must use their hands to provide manual therapy and therapeutic exercises." According to a pediatric physical therapist resume, here's how pediatric physical therapists can utilize dexterity in their job responsibilities: "performed evaluations, established careplans and provided hands-on treatment within an acute care and outpatient environment. "
Physical stamina. This is an important skill for pediatric physical therapists to perform their duties. For an example of how pediatric physical therapist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "physical therapists spend much of their time on their feet, moving to demonstrate proper techniques and to help patients perform exercises." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a pediatric physical therapist: "performed evaluations for two physical therapy assistants and offered guidance and therapeutic suggestions through monthly supervisory visits with each of their patients".
Compassion. pediatric physical therapist responsibilities often require "compassion." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "physical therapists spend a lot of time interacting with patients, so they should have a desire to help people." This resume example shows what pediatric physical therapists do with compassion on a typical day: "demonstrate empathy, concern, good listening skills, and compassion for all patients. "
Communication skills. Lastly, "communication skills" is an important element of what a pediatric physical therapist does. Pediatric physical therapist responsibilities require this skill because "physical therapists must clearly explain treatment programs, motivate patients, and listen to patients’ concerns in order to provide effective therapy." This resume example highlights how pediatric physical therapist duties rely on this skill: "demonstrated clear written and oral communications skills when working with healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers. "
The three companies that hire the most pediatric physical therapists are:
- American Mobile Healthcare29 pediatric physical therapists jobs
- Thrive Skilled Pediatric Care Careers27 pediatric physical therapists jobs
- Club Staffing24 pediatric physical therapists jobs
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Compare different pediatric physical therapists
Pediatric physical therapist vs. Child life therapist
A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between pediatric physical therapists and child life therapist. For instance, pediatric physical therapist responsibilities require skills such as "patient care," "home health," "early intervention," and "kids." Whereas a child life therapist is skilled in "direct care," "therapeutic recreation," "emotional support," and "cpr." This is part of what separates the two careers.
The education levels that child life therapists earn slightly differ from pediatric physical therapists. In particular, child life therapists are 4.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a pediatric physical therapist. Additionally, they're 27.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Pediatric physical therapist vs. Manipulative therapy specialist
An in-home therapist provides case management, counseling, resource system development, support system development, and crisis intervention services for family members and children. They provide goal-oriented and structured therapy on referral issues for families that help recover from neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or physical abuse. Also, they provide time-limited, goal-oriented, and structured therapy in the families' natural environment for families that need help to recover from neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and physical abuse.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, pediatric physical therapist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "autism," "home health," "physical therapy," and "kids." Meanwhile, a manipulative therapy specialist has duties that require skills in areas such as "gmp," "t-cell," "cell processing," and "clinical trials." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Manipulative therapy specialists may earn a lower salary than pediatric physical therapists, but manipulative therapy specialists earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $51,149. On the other hand, pediatric physical therapists receive higher pay in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $79,534.manipulative therapy specialists earn lower levels of education than pediatric physical therapists in general. They're 5.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 27.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for pediatric physical therapists in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Todd Roach D.C.
Assistant Professor of Biology, Aurora University
Pediatric physical therapist vs. Therapist
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from pediatric physical therapist resumes include skills like "home health," "physical therapy," "kids," and "treatment programs," whereas a therapist is more likely to list skills in "group therapy sessions," "crisis intervention," "mental health," and "therapeutic services. "
Therapists make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $55,972. On the other hand, pediatric physical therapists are paid the highest salary in the professional industry, with average annual pay of $79,534.therapists typically earn higher educational levels compared to pediatric physical therapists. Specifically, they're 24.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 25.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Pediatric physical therapist vs. In home therapist
Types of pediatric physical therapist
Updated January 8, 2025
