Prepping for Speech Therapy Jobs Phoenix

Looking for speech therapy jobs Phoenix? It's important to get a proper education before you begin looking for work.

Speech therapists work with patients to diagnose and treat a variety of speech and speech-related problems. Their patients may include everyone from people who stutter to those who have problems understanding language to people who have trouble swallowing.

Working as a speech therapist is very lucrative. Not only is there plenty of stability, with jobs expected to grow by 19 percent through 2018, but you also can expect to be paid well, with the median salary coming in at $62,930 during 2008.

In order to become a speech therapist, however, you must first obtain the proper education. The minimum requirement is typically a Bachelor of Science in Speech Pathology, although many employers prefer to hire those with a Master of Science in Speech Pathology.

Here's a look at some of the classes you can expect to take while earning your degree, as compiled by Education-Portal.com:

• Speech and language acquisition - An introductory-level class that teaches students about the normal progression of language, from infancy to adolescence. Students also learn about theories surrounding language, social factors related to speech, the development of dialects, and potential problems of speech development.
• Speech anatomy and physiology - Teaches students about the mechanisms behind breathing and articulating and receiving sounds, as well as anatomical abnormalities that can cause speech problems.
• Speech therapy and phonetics - Looks at speech from a physiological, descriptive, and acoustic perspective. Students learn how to identify, describe, classify, and transcribe difference types of speech.
  
• Voice and language disorders - Students learn how to identify and treat physiological speech problems that are caused by paralysis, ulcers, cleft palette, damaged vocal nodules, motor speech disorders, or neurological speech problems.
• Speech problems in children - Students learn how to identify and treat speech problems that are often found in young children, such as stuttering lisps, or developmental delays. They also learn about the physiological, psychological, and social causes of these problems.
• Speech problems in the elderly - Teaches students about the various causes and treatments of speech loss in the elderly, such as dementia, brain trauma, and deafness.

Sales Careers Phoenix Bolstered by Improving Retail Industry

The retail industry is providing some encouraging news for those pursuing sales careers Phoenix (Click here).

A recent report from the Arizona Department of Revenue found that annual retail sales throughout the state increased by 4 percent to $5 billion during December 2010, marking the second consecutive month of retail sales growth and the best sales in three years.

However, that increase will not help the state emerge from its current budget deficit, according to The Arizona Republic. During the first six months of the current fiscal year, the state spent $5.9 billion and took in only $4.9 billion, leaving a $1 billion shortfall.

Here's a look at how each retail sector fared during December:

• Motor vehicle sales - Increased by 21.5 percent over the year to a total of $462.3 million.
• Restaurants and bars - Increased by 11 percent over the year.
• Clothing stores - Increased by 6.6 percent over the year.
• Furniture and home furnishing stores - Increased by 5.5 percent over the year. 
• Miscellaneous retail - Increased by 5 percent over the year.
• General merchandise stores - Declined by 2.6 percent over the year.
• Building material, lawn and garden stores - Declined by 15.4 percent over the year.

While the retail industry is usually a good indicator of how the overall economy is performing, Phoenix jobs don't seem to be recovering as quickly, as the area continues to see a declining workforce and a growing unemployment rate.

During January, the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale area's unemployment rate increased from 8.4 percent to 9.3 percent, after dropping from 8.5 percent during December. That latest increase keeps the area's rate above the national average at the time of 9 percent.

The Phoenix area employed about 1,681,700 workers during January, which is down from 1,713,900 workers during December and only a .4 percent increase from last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nursing Jobs Phoenix at New Long-Term Care Center

The number of nursing jobs Phoenix has to offer is increasing, thanks to the relocation of a long-term care center.

Promise Hospital of Phoenix recently relocated to a new long-term acute care center at the Arizona Regional Medical Center campus in Mesa. The new facility will create 150 high-skilled Mesa jobs and have a large economic impact on the local community.

All employees are ACLS certified and use a primary registered nursing model when taking care of patients. The hospital is equipped to provide everything from MRI services and CT scans to interventional radiology and catheter placement.

The company chose to relocate to Mesa in order to: provide more long-term services to East Valley residents, increase available diagnostic and treatment services, better align with physicians, and continue growing and supporting the area's healthcare consortium.

"We're extremely happy to have Promise Hospital in downtown Mesa," Mayor Scott Smith said in a statement. "Bringing high-quality jobs to Mesa is an integral part of our H.E.A.T. initiative and to make that happen you need quality organizations with quality people like Promise Hospital."

Promise provides high-quality, long-term care for patients suffering from complex medical conditions, with most patients staying an average of at least 25 days. The hospital's "quality" scores consistently outperform the national average.

The company specializes in treating acute respiratory and pulmonary care, infectious disease management, advanced wound management, complex medical management, and treatment for multi-organ failure and post-surgical complications.

The new 30,000-square-foot treatment center will cater to patients from Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe, Scottsdale, Glendale, Avondale, Sun City, Peoria, Paradise Valley, and Queen Creek.

The hospital features:

• 48 beds
• 24 private rooms
• 12 semi-private rooms
• 23 telemetry beds
• 15 medical and surgical beds
• Six-bed Intensive Care Unit
• Dialysis suite
• Wound care suite
• Rehab and physical therapy gym
• Pharmacy
• Conference and break room
• Administrative offices