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Duke University
Durham, North Carolina

Occupational Therapist - Acute Care - PRN

Occupational TherapistPer Diem

Compensation

Pay not listed

The week · per this posting

Schedule not stated in this posting — no days, weekends, call or nights given.

Ask the employer about the pay range, the work setting, call expectations and time off.

Posted 1mo ago

Job Description

At Duke Health, we're driven by a commitment to compassionate care that changes the lives of patients, their loved ones, and the greater community. No matter where your talents lie, join us and discover how we can advance health together.

About Duke Raleigh Hospital, A Campus of Duke University Hospital Pursue your passion for caring with the Duke Raleigh Campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.

With 204-beds, it is the third largest of the four Duke Health hospitals and offers a comprehensive array of services, including cancer, cardiovascular, neuroscience, advanced gastrointestinal, and wound healing care.

Occ Summary Develop, improve, or restore skills in activities of daily living, work or productive activities and play or leisure.

Intervention involves therapeutic use of meaningful and purposeful occupations, adaptation of environments, promotion of health and wellness, graded tasks and activities as prerequisites to engagement in occupations, design, fabrication, application or training in the use of assistive technology or orthotic/prosthetic devices, application of physical agent modalities and application of ergonomic principles to the performance of occupations.

Serve as a resource person for the team and department; participates in orientation of new staff therapists, physicians and other health personnel. The senior participates in teaching activities for occupational therapy and other health related students.

Work Performed See departmental criteria for clinical ladder advancement eligibility. Demonstrate and articulate sound clinical reasoning in synthesizing complex evaluation data identifying diagnosis and developing a comprehensive plan of care.

Develop and update appropriate plan of care in collaboration with the patient/family and related to the person's age and lifestyle with measurable long and short term goals and a defined D/C plan. Understand the role of occupational therapy in the context of the patient's age, total needs perspective and environment.

Select and administer appropriate assessment and treatment techniques. Perform age appropriate competency skills in area of practice and with respect to individual patient's problems. Follow intervention protocols and revise interventions appropriately.

Discharge patient when goals have been met or medical necessity is no longer indicated. Establish provisions for continuing services/follow up as needed. Meet competency skills for evaluations in area of practice. Consistently meet patient care productivity standard as established for job classification.

Work cooperatively with supervisors and peers to contribute to the overall productivity of the team. Utilize support personnel (aides, senior aides, assistants) as appropriate and available. Actively support and participate in patient coverage efforts across all divisions within the department as necessary.

Assess the learning needs and capabilities of patients and caregivers. Initiate patient and family education in a timely manner relative to age, LOS, readiness to learn, and emotional status.

Utilize appropriate methods andmaterials for effective learning, monitoring response to education, and adapting program appropriately. Ensure that patient/family understands when and how to access further intervention. Patient care documentation is timely, legible, and efficient.

Documentation is concise, pertinent and meets the professions and departments documentation standards. Oral reporting is clear, concise, relevant, and timely. Perform all required data collection for the department accurately and within expected time frame. Peer review standards are consistently met.

Collaborate effectively with other members of the health care team. Take one to two students for short-term clinical rotation. Adjust supervisory techniques for individual students' needs. Provide in-services on clinical education attended. Perform other related duties incidental to the work described herein.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Ability to push-pull, lift-carry, and transfer patients. Level Characteristics See Clinical Ladder administration document Minimum

Qualifications

Education Bachelor's degree in Occupational Therapy required, with Master's degree preferred. Experience None beyond required education, although more experience may be preferred at times. Degrees, Licensures, Certifications Current Occupational Therapy license in North Carolina.

Duke is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy related conditions), sexual orientation or military status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes.

To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essential job functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.

Key Responsibilities

Develop and implement comprehensive occupational therapy plans to restore patient skills in daily living and productive activities. Collaborate with the healthcare team to provide patient education, document clinical progress, and supervise students during clinical rotations.

Requirements

Requires a Bachelor's degree in Occupational Therapy and a current North Carolina license. Candidates must demonstrate sound clinical reasoning and the ability to perform physical tasks such as patient transfers.

Qualifications

Education
Bachelor degree

Key Skills

Patient evaluationPlan of care developmentOrthotic devicesClinical supervisionInterdisciplinary collaborationAcute careTherapeutic intervention

Occupational Therapist Career Context

In North Carolina, the Occupational Therapy weighted monthly median benchmark on WeekdayDoc is ~$92k (201 salary observations; 730 listings), vs ~$97k nationally (6,680 salary observations; 25,679 listings). Monthly aggregates cover 2026-01-01 through 2026-10-01; these are not the modal's selected comparable-job medians.

The cost-of-living index for North Carolina is 94.3 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)). 59.2% of North Carolina clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Of the 50 active Occupational Therapy listings this role was benchmarked against, 2% are remote, 48% have no call, 80% require no weekends.

Occupational Therapy pay on WeekdayDoc is up 1.5% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).

Top contract/1099 Occupational Therapist Jobs

40 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution35 jobs · 30 employers

21
<$110k
8
$110k-125k
2
$125k-140k
4
$140k-155k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks35 jobs · 30 employers

401k / retirement match
97%
CME allowance
51%
Sign-on bonus
23%
Loan repayment
23%
Relocation assistance
9%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

School-Based Occupational Therapist (OT)

Strides Therapy and Educational Services · Baltimore, Maryland

$67-$73/hr
#2

Occupational Therapist

Infinity Rehab · Berkeley, California

$57-$70/hr
#3

Occupational Therapist Matawan NJ

$140k
#4

Occupational Therapist Marlboro NJ

$140k
+ 38 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 4.8this job 3.0
Better work-life than 20% of Occupational Therapy listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 9,348 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

Living in Durham

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$363k
Typical market rent
$1,659/mo
Residents’ average commute
22 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
97.6
State income tax
Up to 4.8%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Durham-Chapel Hill, NC metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.