Nurse Practitioner Palliative Care

Summary

The Nurse Practitioner is responsible for providing clinical care in designated care setting(s) such as inpatient, outpatient clinic, telehealth, or home care. The Nurse Practitioner will utilize advanced clinical skills and knowledge to assess patients and manage all aspects of Serious Illness Supportive Care, Palliative Care, and Hospice Care from a holistic perspective. This Nurse Practitioner will guide care for those patients with acute, chronic, serious/advanced and life limiting illness at any stage. In an interdisciplinary manner, the Nurse Practitioner will provide symptom management to promote comfort/quality of life at any stage of disease process, in addition to providing goals of care discussions and advanced care planning for patients and families to ensure their treatment choices reflect their wishes. The Nurse Practitioner will also collaborate closely with various other health care team members including physicians, nursing, physical/occupational therapists, dietitians, speech therapists, and case managers to deliver optimal care addressing patients’ and families’ physical, social, spiritual, and emotional needs. The nurse practitioner will function within a supervising and collaborative agreement with an assigned service line physician.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

These duties and responsibilities described below represent the general tasks performed on a daily basis; other tasks may be assigned.

. Perform physical exams, evaluate, diagnose, and treat identified problems of designated patient population; document findings in the electronic medical record

. Assess and manage medication therapies according to established protocols, practice guidelines, or standards as warranted by patient's diagnosis or changing medical condition

. Order and review laboratory test results and initiate appropriate interventions based on findings

. Order and review diagnostic studies such as CT and MRI scans, radiographic and ultrasound procedures, endoscopies, and biopsies as necessary

. Participate in short and long-range planning of patient care within the clinic and community setting

. Coordinate patient care with members of the multidisciplinary team to include physicians (primary care and specialists), nurses, pharmacy, social work, physical therapy, home care, care management, and appropriate supportive resources (i.e. ALF/SNF staff, community services, etc.)

. Demonstrate adherence to Chesapeake Regional Medical Center’s Service Excellence standards in all interactions, and follow through in all areas of responsibility

. Communicate/consult immediately with collaborating/supervising physician in instances of elevated patient care concerns or when otherwise necessary, as described in the Supervising and/or Collaborative Agreement.

. Develop annual plan of personal educational and growth needs to meet continued certification and licensure requirements

. Demonstrate excellent customer service with patients, families, staff, and all other internal and external customers, and actively strive for excellent relationships with all physicians and other care providers.

. Continuous, ongoing evaluation of all patients for possible discharge with Care Management, Social Work, and others, providing support as needed.

. Coordinate referrals to appropriate providers for further management (ex. Home Care, Hospice, Community Clinics, etc.)

. Attend required hospital-wide orientations, meetings, and in-services

. Demonstrate a commitment to flexible work scheduling when necessary to ensure patient care

Qualifications

Education and Experience

Minimum Required Education: Must be a Registered Nurse licensed in the State if Virginia or compact state. Master’s degree in Nursing with successful completion of an accredited Nurse Practitioner Program.

Experience: Prefer minimum of 2 years experience working in an acute, outpatient, clinic, or home care setting in a directly related clinical role. Knowledge of community resources a plus.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations

Applicant must be licensed to work in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a Nurse Practitioner and must have current BLS and hold applicable board certifications.