Vidant Medical Center
Pitt County Schools in partnership with Vidant Medical Center
Pediatric Rehabilitation, P.O. Box 6028
Greenville, North Carolina 27835-6028
Telephone: 252-847-7912
email: salpers@vidanthealth.com
Fax: 252-847-0371
Following is the “official” job description:
The Vidant Hospital School Program was established to help bridge the gap between the
time a patient leaves his home school and returns to it. The Hospital School Program,
serving children kindergarten through twelfth grade, is part of Pitt County Schools.
The school program receives administrative support through the Pediatric Rehabilitation
Program, Vidant Medical Center. The teachers are required to fulfill all JCAHO inservices, CARF standards, and to follow hospital documentation guidelines. The teachers
are considered integral members of the patient care team and make appropriate
documentation in patient records.
Bedside teaching is provided for children who are not mobile. There are two classrooms
for mobile patients in Children’s Hospital of Eastern North Carolina. The classrooms are
located in Pediatrics and in the Pediatric Rehabilitation Unit.
Because of the nature of the job, teachers must possess the ability to be extremely flexible
and must not be intimidated by the hospital setting. They must be able to handle last
minute changes of a lesson plan and/or schedule. They must be able to teach bedside or
in the classroom. They must be able to handle working with students who have IV’s,
wheel chairs, external fixators, monitors, etc., and be able to cope with students’ injuries,
illnesses, and even deaths.
Hospital teachers must have good communication skills. They must feel comfortable and
self-confidant enough to interact and ask questions of medical staff and schools. Good
documentation skills are essential. Computer skills are a must.
Hospital teachers should have at least a bachelor’s degree in their educational field and
experience with exceptional children of all ages. Experience with middle school and high
school students as well as with younger students would be ideal. A minimum of 5-7
years of classroom experience with as many varied experiences as possible would be a
real asset.
For more information about the program, contact Will include this info after the job is
posted…or look at posted job for contact info.
Specifics about the Peds teaching position:
1. Receive doctor’s referral for school services via computer.
2. Read computerized chart for pertinent medical and school information.
3. Introduce self and program to parent/guardian; get permission to enroll in
hospital school.
4. Call home school, request needed information.
5. Enroll and withdraw using NCWISE.
6. Prepare initial assignments from classroom materials.
7. Teach bedside or classroom with or without family present.
8. Motivate, encourage, listen, and discipline students in the abnormal hospital
environment.
9. Use technology (Skype, computers, ipads, etc) to make the most of each
teaching session (between 10 and 60 minutes).
10. Document in computer student’s school background information for medical
team.
11. Prepare future assignments with objectives, books, and worksheets from home
school.
12. Document outcomes of each day’s lessons in student folders.
13. Communicate with home school about present functioning levels and needs of
the student when he is discharged.
14. Send appropriate cancer information to home school as appropriate.
15. Get homebound request signed by doctor if appropriate, send to home school.
16. Get homebound requests signed per doctor’s request for non-enrolled
students.
17. Write exit letter and include work completed.
18. Communicate with UNC’s and Duke’s Hospital School programs for shared
students and concerns.
19. Serve students NOT enrolled if situation warrants it. 1) If the patient is baby
and its mother is enrolled in school, the mother is a prospective hospital
school student. 2) If the patient is here for an undetermined amount of time
due to looking for a suitable hospital placement in an outside facility. 3) If
home school needs to record semester grades and create a new semester’s
schedule for patient.
20. Orient new therapy staff to hospital school program. This includes a biannual
orientation of Child Life and Family Support Network interns.
21. Attend rounds and interact with professional medical staff as needed.
22. Attend Peds Rehab Dept. meetings and in-services as needed.
23. Attend every-other-month meetings with Hospital Manager and School
Supervisor.
24. Proctor EOC and EOG tests as appropriate.
25. Write Medical Exceptions as appropriate.
26. Provide cross-coverage with other hospital school teacher as needed.
27. Create working relationships with many hospital staff members—doctors,
nurse managers, charge nurses, nurses, discharge planner, social workers,
Child Life workers, OT/PT/SP therapists, Environmental Care, maintenance,
IS.
28. Foster working relationships with varied schools and school systems—
guidance counselors, data people, school nurses, principals, teachers, school
social workers.
29. Co-treat with OT’s or speech therapists as appropriate.
30. Explain the hospital school program to visiting dignitaries as needed.
31. Collect data for monthly written letter (9 per year) to hospital and school
administrators.
32. Collect data for end of year letter for hospital and school administrators.