Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center: Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

Medical Speech - Adult

Job Summary:

JOB SUMMARY
Supports patient care with occasional guidance. Maintains and prepares supplies and equipment, materials and/or information development.

Speech & Swallowing Technician

Clinical Support | Acute & Outpatient Speech-Language Pathology Services

Location: Vanderbilt Health Downtown Campus | Nashville, TN
Schedule: Full-Time | Monday-Friday | Day Shift

Please Note: This is a full-time, onsite healthcare support position. This role is not designed for observation hours, internships, or current students seeking clinical placement experiences.

Make a Meaningful Impact

Join Vanderbilt Health's Speech-Language Pathology team in a unique clinical support role that combines hands-on patient interaction, procedural support, scheduling coordination, and clinic operations.

As a Speech & Swallowing Technician, you'll work alongside Speech-Language Pathologists across both acute care and outpatient settings, helping improve patient access to swallowing evaluations and speech services while supporting exceptional patient experiences.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys helping others, thrives in a fast-paced healthcare environment, and takes pride in keeping clinical operations running smoothly.

What You'll Do

Clinical Support - Acute Care

Assist Speech-Language Pathologists during specialized swallowing evaluations, including Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES)
Prepare treatment areas and equipment for patient evaluations and procedures
Transport, organize, and maintain clinical equipment used during swallowing assessments
Process and disinfect scopes and equipment according to established infection prevention standards
Support patient flow and help ensure a positive, efficient experience during clinic visits and procedures
Interact with patients in a professional, compassionate, and respectful manner

Scheduling & Coordination - Outpatient Services

Schedule pediatric outpatient swallow studies and related appointments
Monitor schedules for cancellations and reschedule patients as needed
Proactively fill appointment openings to improve access and clinic utilization
Communicate appointment information clearly with patients, caregivers, and clinical teams
Support efficient scheduling workflows that improve patient access to care

Operational Support

Assist outpatient Speech-Language Pathology teams with clinic workflows and administrative processes
Support templates, documentation tools, and operational initiatives
Perform routine clinic support activities, including supply management and expiration date monitoring
Assist with equipment sanitation and clinic organization
Maintain accurate, organized workflows across multiple clinical environments

Who Thrives in This Role?

You may be a great fit if you:

Enjoy working directly with patients and families
Like balancing hands-on clinical support with administrative responsibilities
Are highly organized and detail-oriented
Communicate professionally and compassionately
Enjoy solving problems and helping healthcare teams operate efficiently
Want to make an impact in patient care without pursuing a licensed clinical role

Qualifications

Required

High School Diploma or GED
Ability to work directly with patients in a clinical environment
Basic computer skills, including scheduling and documentation systems
Strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills

Preferred

Experience in healthcare, rehabilitation, clinical support, customer service, or other patient-facing environments
Experience as a Medical Assistant, Patient Care Technician, Care Partner, Rehab Technician, Clinical Assistant, or similar role
Experience with appointment scheduling and coordination
Experience supporting clinical teams in acute care or outpatient settings
Familiarity with infection control practices, equipment handling, or scope reprocessing
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced setting

Training & Support

Comprehensive training is provided for equipment handling, scope reprocessing, swallowing evaluation support, scheduling workflows, and clinic operations.

Why This Role Matters

The work you do directly supports:

Faster access to swallowing evaluations and speech services
Improved patient scheduling and clinic efficiency
Reduced administrative burden for clinicians
Exceptional patient and family experiences
High-quality care delivery across Vanderbilt Health

Why Vanderbilt Health?

Work alongside highly specialized Speech-Language Pathologists
Gain experience across both acute care and outpatient settings
Build valuable healthcare, procedural, and operational skills
Join a collaborative team focused on innovation and patient-centered care
Make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients every day

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Provides support to speech language pathologists and audiologists through collection of data, assisting with researching topics, transportation of patients or other patient care support services.
• Assists in safe provision of functional activities (leading hand washing, toileting/diaper changing, snack activities for pediatrics).
• Provides support to speech language pathologists and teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing for implementing developmentally appropriate curriculum and activities.
• Maintains supplies at acceptable levels.
• Prepares treatment areas (set up group therapy rooms based on number of patients served and focus of therapy, set up individual therapy/assessment rooms based upon age and/or diagnosis, clean up/reorganize treatment rooms at the conclusion of service).
• Provides basic screening services (Prepare infant or child for hearing screening, performs hearing screening and communicates results to family).
• The responsibilities listed are a general overview of the position and additional duties may be assigned.

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES
• Rehab PTA/COTA Patient Documentation (Novice): Demonstrates sufficient 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.
• Quality Assurance (Fundamental Awareness): Understands the goal of increasing organizational productivity and individual performance by making the products and services within your work assignments more efficient and more effective. Demonstrates quality management practices on the job which result in superior products and services delivered.
• Audiology Patient Education (Novice): Communicates functional impact of assessment findings, treatment interventions, diagnosis, and disease process. Adapts communication to the level of understanding of the patient. Determines comprehension and need for repetition and/or revision of methods.
• Equipment Maintenance (Fundamental Awareness): Has limited experience, training, direct exposure, or past experience conducting maintenance activities in area of assignments.

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: Performs clearly defines tasks and methods described in detail to achieve standardized solutions that impact own performance with regular guidance. * Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Follows a well established process to solve routine problems where solutions are clearly prescribed. * Breadth of Knowledge: Has basic job knowledge of systems and procedures that are common to own job. * Team Interaction: Individually contributes to the team.

Core Capabilities :

Delivering Excellent Services : Serves Others with Compassion: Invests time to understand the problems, needs of others and how to provide excellent service. Solves Complex Problems: Seeks to understand issues, solves routine problems, and raises proper concerns in a timely manner. Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Listens carefully to understand the issues and provides accurate information and support. Ensuring High Quality : Performs Excellent Work: Checks work quality before delivery and asks relevant questions to meet quality standards. Ensures Continuous Improvement: Shows eagerness to learn new knowledge, technologies, tools or systems and displays willingness to go above and beyond. Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Demonstrates basic knowledge of conditions that affect safety and reports unsafe conditions to the appropriate person or department. Managing Resources Effectively: Demonstrates Accountability: Takes responsibility for completing assigned activities and thinks beyond standard approaches to provide high-quality work/service. Stewards Organizational Resources: Displays understanding of how personal actions will impact departmental resources.Makes Data Driven Decisions: Uses accurate information and good decision making to consistently achieve results on time and without error. Fostering Innovation :Generates New Ideas: Willingly proposes/accepts ideas or initiatives that will impact day-to-day operations by offering suggestions to enhance them. - Applies Technology: Absorbs new technology quickly; understands when to utilize the appropriate tools and procedures to ensure proper course of action. - Adapts to Change: Embraces changes by keeping an open mind to changing plans and incorporates change instructions into own area of work.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

Work Experience:

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level :

Less than 1 year

Education:

High School Diploma or GED

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.

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