Discover Vanderbilt Health: With eight hospitals and over 180 clinics, we are the region’s largest comprehensive academic health system. Vanderbilt Health has a long tradition of providing world-class care to the people of the Mid-South, living out our mission of moving medicine forward through preeminent programs in patient care, education and research. Here you’ll find a spirit of collaboration and a supportive community where your expertise is valued, your knowledge expanded and your uniqueness celebrated. We are committed to fostering an environment where talented, compassionate people are united in bringing the most advanced care to our neighbors throughout the region.

Organization:

Hearing And Speech

Job Summary:

JOB SUMMARY
Evaluates and treats patients with speech, language, voice, cognition, fluency, auditory (re)habilitation, and swallowing/oral feeding disorders. Educates and counsels patients and families. Provides independent therapeutic services and identify area(s) of clinical specialization and competency. Supervises graduate students as assigned in clinical specialty area. Participates actively in identifying and conducting quality improvement activities. Collaborates with clinical practice team to achieve patient outcomes and system objectives.

.

Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) - Pediatric Acute Care

Location: Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt | Nashville, TN

Department: Pediatric Rehabilitation Services

Schedule: Full-Time | Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | Weekend Rotation: 3-4 Half Days per Quarter

Are you passionate about helping children safely feed, swallow, communicate, and thrive?

Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt is seeking an experienced Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) to join our Pediatric Rehabilitation Services team.

In this acute care role, you'll provide specialized evaluation and treatment for infants, children, and adolescents with feeding disorders, swallowing impairments, communication challenges, and complex medical conditions. Working across the NICU, PICU, inpatient units, and specialty services, you'll collaborate with a highly skilled interdisciplinary team to support exceptional outcomes for children and families.

This position is ideal for an SLP who enjoys pediatric acute care, feeding and swallowing disorders, dysphagia management, Videofluoroscopic Swallow Studies (VFSS), and caring for medically complex patients in a nationally recognized children's hospital.

What You'll Do

• Evaluate and treat pediatric feeding, swallowing, dysphagia, speech, language, and communication disorders in an acute care setting.
• Provide care for medically complex infants, children, and adolescents, including patients with tracheostomies, neurological conditions, traumatic brain injuries, and developmental disabilities.
• Perform Videofluoroscopic Swallow Studies (VFSS) to support safe feeding and swallowing recommendations.
• Develop individualized treatment plans focused on functional outcomes and family-centered care.
• Collaborate closely with physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, dietitians, respiratory therapists, and other healthcare professionals.
• Educate families and caregivers regarding feeding strategies, swallowing safety, communication development, and discharge recommendations.
• Document evaluations, treatment plans, and patient progress in the electronic medical record.
• Support continuity of care through discharge planning and interdisciplinary coordination.

Why Vanderbilt Health?

• Practice at one of the nation's leading pediatric hospitals.
• Treat a diverse and medically complex pediatric population across the continuum of acute care.
• Gain advanced experience in pediatric feeding and swallowing, dysphagia management, VFSS, NICU, and PICU services.
• Work alongside nationally recognized experts in pediatric rehabilitation and acute care.
• Access continuing education, mentorship, and professional development opportunities.
• Join an academic medical center committed to innovation, research, and exceptional patient care.

Required Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology
• ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC-SLP)
• Tennessee Speech-Language Pathology license or eligibility for licensure
• Minimum one year of pediatric acute care hospital experience (outside of graduate school opportunities)
• Pediatric feeding and swallowing evaluation and treatment experience

Preferred Qualifications

• NICU experience
• PICU experience
• VFSS experience
• Pediatric dysphagia management experience
• Level I Trauma Center experience

Make a Difference Every Day

At Vanderbilt Health, Speech-Language Pathologists play a critical role in helping children safely eat, communicate, recover, and reach their fullest potential.

If you're passionate about pediatric acute care, feeding and swallowing disorders, dysphagia management, and interdisciplinary collaboration, we'd love to hear from you.

Join our team and help shape the future of pediatric care for children and families across the region.

 KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Analyzes comprehensive information from formal and informal assessment that is pertinent to the patient's care and management to determine a rehabilitation treatment diagnosis.
• Collaborates with stakeholders in establishing the plan of care, coordinates and implements care delivery while anticipating patient care needs across the rehabilitation continuum.
• Applies appropriate, evidence-based interventions to ensure effective outcomes and re-evaluates performance to assess patient's progress towards goals.
• Employs strategies to promote successful return to home, community, and school/vocational environments.
• Supervises graduate students by providing instruction, guidance/counsel and training to ensure provision of competent patient care and completion of appropriate documentation.
• The responsibilities listed are a general overview of the position and additional duties may be assigned.

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES
• Speech Pathology Treatment Implementation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency providing treatment consistent with physician prescription and established plan of care. Identifies treatment objectives based upon assessment results and family input. Writes functional objectives in measurable terms that are consistent with the family's goals and resources. Applies evidence based clinical management practices. Identifies and recommends additional/alternative services when appropriate.
• Speech Pathology Patient Evaluation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in evaluating patients with speech-language, auditory, and/or swallowing/oral feeding deficits using the appropriate testing methods and equipment for the patient type, diagnosis, and reason for the referral. Demonstrates the ability to obtain the case history and selects appropriate measures and performs a functional assessment to document patient's status requiring skilled therapy. Interprets the results of the assessment and their significance for the patient, family, referring physician and other members of the health care team.
• Discharge Planning (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in the discharge planning process. Informs patients, family and members of team of the patient's needs based upon the assessment and/or treatment. Makes recommendations for continued services, follow-up, or referrals to other services. Seeks guidance consistently on the transition and discharge process including transition services and referral resources. May anticipate transition and discharge needs of the patient based upon understanding of pathology/diagnosis and relationship to their present functional status. Will have completed at least one year of experience with transition and discharge planning.
• Speech Pathology Patient & Family Education (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in communicating functional impact of assessment findings, treatment interventions, treatment planning diagnosis, and disease process. Considers the communication needs/level of understanding of audience and may share appropriate information/literature. May supervise, educate and train students from professional programs of speech-language pathology.
• Rehab Therapist Patient Documentation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in documentation practices. Documents in the appropriate templates and utilizes only approved abbreviations within patient documentation. Meets institutional standards for quality and timeliness of documentation.

Allied health is among the fastest growing occupations in healthcare today. This area can be defined as credentialed professionals who perform supportive, diagnostic, and therapeutic health care services to promote health and prevent disease in a variety of settings.

These areas are crucial to Vanderbilt Health’s reputation for excellence in these areas that has made us a major center for patient referrals from throughout the Mid-South.

Each year, people throughout Tennessee and the southeast choose Vanderbilt Health for their health care because of our leadership in medical science and our dedication to treating patients with dignity and compassion.

​

Core Accountabilities:

Organizational Impact: Executes job responsibilities with the understanding of how output would affect and impact other areas related to own job area/team with occasional guidance. Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Analyzes moderately complex problems using technical experience and judgment. Breadth of Knowledge: Has expanded knowledge gained through experience within a professional area. Team Interaction: Provides informal guidance and support to team members.

Core Capabilities :

Supporting Colleagues:- Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance e and gain knowledge in new areas.- Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships.- Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences. Delivering Excellent Services:- Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them.- Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions.- Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness. Ensuring High Quality: - Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly.- Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure.- Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area.- Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities. Fostering Innovation:- Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches.- Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short-term challenges.- Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

LIC-Speech Pathologist - Tennessee

Work Experience:

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level :

1 year

Education:

Master's

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within Vanderbilt Health, supported by a comprehensive benefits package which may include health, disability, retirement and/or wellness offerings to enhance your well-being and professional growth.

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity.  EOE/Vets/Disabled.