Roles and Expectations for SLPs in Acute Settings

Outline:

Section 1: Managing the Acute Care Patient

Overview of the Acute Care Setting

Medical Record Review

Vital Signs

Becoming Part of the Interprofessional Team

Test Your Knowledge

Key Takeaways

Section 2: Clinical Highlights

Dysphagia

Communication Deficits

Cognitive-Communication Deficits

In the ICU

Test Your Knowledge

Key Takeaways

Section 3: Other Patient Care Expectations

Report Writing and Documentation

Reimbursement for Services

Team Communication

Discharge Planning

Ethical Dilemmas

Test Your Knowledge

Key Takeaways

Section 4: Conclusion

Course Summary

Course Contributors

Resources

Susan Almon-Matangos, MS, CCC-SLP, is a certified and licensed speech-language pathologist with over 40 years of experience. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from Jacksonville State University and her Master of Science degree in speech-language pathology from The University of Alabama. She has provided care to clients across the lifespan with diverse diagnostic conditions in school, hospital, skilled nursing facility, outpatient clinic, and home health settings. In her previous role as a national clinical director for a contract therapy company, she developed training programs for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology focusing on clinical rehabilitation needs of older adults in post-acute care. Currently, she serves as the Lead Subject Matter Expert Writer for Speech-Language Pathology at Relias, where she leverages her clinical expertise and analysis of published research. She is a certified member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Pennsylvania Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

 

 

Meghan Farrington, MA, CCC-SLP, is a certified and licensed speech-language pathologist with over 23 years of experience in the adult setting. Meghan earned her Bachelor of Science in communication disorders from the State University of New York College at Fredonia and her Master of Arts in speech and hearing handicap from the State University of New York College at Geneseo. She has worked in the long-term care and sub-acute setting, but most recently in the acute and outpatient setting with the adult population. She is skilled in objective dysphagia assessments such as modified barium swallow studies (MBSS) and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallow (FEES). Her areas of focus include dysphagia, cognition, speech and language disorders, a variety of voice disorders including paradoxical vocal fold dysfunction and resonant voice, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) management, and head and neck cancer.