A per diem physical therapist is responsible for performing therapy treatments for patients when the institution is short-staffed for therapists. These therapists design recovery plans to help ease patients with their movements and daily activities after suffering from injury, illness, and other medical conditions. They diagnose patients to evaluate treatment methods, observe their progress every session, and modify plans until the final recovery. A per diem physical therapist operate various tools and equipment, schedule treatment appointments, and monitor the patients' medications.

Per Diem Physical Therapist Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real per diem physical therapist resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

  • Achieve high level of patients satisfaction due to sound clinical management, quality of care and compassion.
  • Help patients adapt to the use of braces, canes, crutches and prosthetic/orthotic devices as needed.
  • Assist patients to adapt to the use of wheelchairs, braces, canes, crutches and prosthetic/orthotic devises.
  • Provide patient care in a SNF setting with the primary emphasis on transitioning patients from hospital to home.
  • Provide assessments and documentation for adaptive equipment.
  • Supervise PTAs and physical therapy aides in direct patient-relate activities.
  • Assess adaptive equipment needs and perform wheelchair fitting evaluations on all appropriate inpatient residents.
  • Evaluate and treat patients with neurological, orthopedics, systemic and other conditions warranting physical therapy in a skil nursing setting
  • Focuse on the care delivery model within a SNF environment.
  • Work one on one with stroke patients to develop dexterity and strength.
  • Supervise PTAs in the delivery of therapy services in accordance with care plans.
  • Utilize manual therapy techniques, specifically joint mobilizations, deep tissue mobilization, and traction.
  • Perform home assessment for a THA patient to ensure safe and functional transition to home environment.
  • Administer massages and traction to relieve pain, improve comfort levels and decrease or prevent deformity or crippling.
  • Fit patients with mobility devices from canes, to walkers to wheelchairs depending of level of disability and need.

Per Diem Physical Therapist Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 26% of Per Diem Physical Therapists are proficient in Patients, Rehabilitation, and Per Diem. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Dexterity, and Physical stamina.

We break down the percentage of Per Diem Physical Therapists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 26%

    Established empathetic and supportive relationships with patients, clearly communicating information on treatment and responding effectively to their concerns and questions.

  • Rehabilitation, 16%

    Collaborated with veterinarians and provided rehabilitation for pets, predominately canines

  • Per Diem, 14%

    Position: Physical Therapist, Per Diem Responsibilities: Developing PT programs, D/C planning and referrals to agencies/outpatient clinics.

  • Home Health, 10%

    Home health care - orthopedic, neurological and medical disabilities

  • Treatment Programs, 6%

    Worked with a variety of orthopedic diagnoses, conducting initial evaluations and developing and implementing treatment programs

  • Physical Therapy Assistants, 3%

    Supervised physical therapy assistants and aides, performed scheduling.

"patients," "rehabilitation," and "per diem" aren't the only skills we found per diem physical therapists list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of per diem physical therapist responsibilities that we found, including:

  • Arguably the most important personality trait for a per diem physical therapist to have happens to be detail oriented. An example from a resume said this about the skill, "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." Additionally, other resumes have pointed out that per diem physical therapists can use detail oriented to "worked with physical therapy assistants and physical therapy technicians to provide personalized, patient-oriented care. "
  • Another commonly found skill for being able to perform per diem physical therapist duties is the following: dexterity. According to a per diem physical therapist resume, "physical therapists must use their hands to provide manual therapy and therapeutic exercises." Check out this example of how per diem physical therapists use dexterity: "instructed patients in exercise program, proper body mechanics, lifting techniques and postural awareness. "
  • Physical stamina is also an important skill for per diem physical therapists to have. This example of how per diem physical therapists use this skill comes from a per diem physical therapist resume, "physical therapists spend much of their time on their feet, moving as they demonstrate proper techniques and help patients perform exercises" Read this excerpt from a resume to understand how vital it is to their everyday roles and responsibilities, "conducted initial examinations, re-examinations and supervised physical therapy assistants. "
  • A per diem physical therapist responsibilities sometimes require "resourcefulness." The responsibilities that rely on this skills are shown by this resume excerpt: "physical therapists customize treatment plans for patients" This resume example shows how this skill is used by per diem physical therapists: "provided client and family support, clinical assessment and psychoeducation to promote mental health wellness and resourcefulness. "
  • Yet another important skill that a per diem physical therapist must demonstrate is "time-management skills." Physical therapists typically treat several patients each day This is clearly demonstrated in this example from a per diem physical therapist who stated: "assist licensed physical therapists with various strategic techniques which reduce sports medicine rehabilitation time period. "
  • While "compassion" is listed last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to per diem physical therapist responsibilities. The skill is described by this resume snippet, "physical therapists are often drawn to the profession in part by a desire to help people" Here is an example of how this skill is used, "earned repeated commendations from supervisor and patients for providing high-quality of care and compassion"
  • See the full list of per diem physical therapist skills.

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    What Athletic Trainers Do

    An athletic trainer is a healthcare professional who works with physicians to improve a patient's quality of life. Their profession encompasses the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of chronic medical conditions involving disabilities, functional limitations, and impairments. As an athletic trainer, you will typically do various tasks, including recognizing and evaluating injuries, providing emergency care or first aid, and developing and implementing rehabilitation programs. You are also responsible for planning and implementing programs to help prevent sports injuries among athletes.

    In this section, we compare the average per diem physical therapist annual salary with that of an athletic trainer. Typically, athletic trainers earn a $27,562 lower salary than per diem physical therapists earn annually.

    While the salaries between these two careers can be different, they do share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both per diem physical therapists and athletic trainers positions are skilled in patients, rehabilitation, and compassion.

    As far as similarities go, this is where it ends because a per diem physical therapist responsibility requires skills such as "per diem," "home health," "treatment programs," and "physical therapy assistants." Whereas a athletic trainer is skilled in "cpr," "patient care," "student athletes," and "athletic injuries." So if you're looking for what truly separates the two careers, you've found it.

    On average, athletic trainers reach lower levels of education than per diem physical therapists. Athletic trainers are 10.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 20.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of a Rehabilitation Technician?

    A rehabilitation technician is responsible for assisting therapists and other medical personnel on supporting the patients in their daily activities and physical therapy sessions. Rehabilitation technicians provide high-quality care services for the patients by administering medications, accompanying them on medical appointments, and ensuring the cleanliness and orderliness of all equipment and facilities to prevent hazards within the premises. They may also perform administrative and clerical duties such as updating patients' information on the database, writing reports, processing payments for medical procedures, and maintaining medical charts for reference.

    The next role we're going to look at is the rehabilitation technician profession. Typically, this position earns a lower pay. In fact, they earn a $45,057 lower salary than per diem physical therapists per year.

    While the salary may be different for these job positions, there is one similarity and that's a few of the skills needed to perform certain duties. We used info from lots of resumes to find that both per diem physical therapists and rehabilitation technicians are known to have skills such as "patients," "rehabilitation," and "physical therapy. "

    In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, per diem physical therapist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "per diem," "home health," "treatment programs," and "physical therapy assistants." Meanwhile, a rehabilitation technician might be skilled in areas such as "cpr," "customer service," "rehabilitation services," and "direct supervision." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

    It's been discovered that rehabilitation technicians earn lower salaries compared to per diem physical therapists, but we wanted to find out where rehabilitation technicians earned the most pay. The answer? The health care industry. The average salary in the industry is $30,968. Additionally, per diem physical therapists earn the highest paychecks in the professional with an average salary of $76,281.

    In general, rehabilitation technicians study at lower levels of education than per diem physical therapists. They're 21.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 20.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    How a Manipulative Therapy Specialist Compares

    Let's now take a look at the manipulative therapy specialist profession. On average, these workers make lower salaries than per diem physical therapists with a $25,340 difference per year.

    Using per diem physical therapists and manipulative therapy specialists resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "patients," "rehabilitation," and "acute care," but the other skills required are very different.

    Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from per diem physical therapist resumes include skills like "per diem," "home health," "treatment programs," and "physical therapy assistants," whereas a manipulative therapy specialist might be skilled in "gmp," "patient care," "t-cell," and "cell processing. "

    Manipulative therapy specialists make a very good living in the education industry with an average annual salary of $51,149. Whereas per diem physical therapists are paid the highest salary in the professional industry with the average being $76,281.

    Manipulative therapy specialists typically study at lower levels compared with per diem physical therapists. For example, they're 15.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 18.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of a Child Life Therapist

    Child life therapists tend to earn a lower pay than per diem physical therapists by about $23,822 per year.

    While both per diem physical therapists and child life therapists complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, rehabilitation, and physical therapy, the two careers also vary in other skills.

    While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "per diem," "home health," "treatment programs," and "physical therapy assistants" are skills that have shown up on per diem physical therapists resumes. Additionally, child life therapist uses skills like direct care, therapeutic recreation, emotional support, and cpr on their resumes.

    Child life therapists reach lower levels of education when compared to per diem physical therapists. The difference is that they're 14.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree less, and 21.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.