Hospice Nurse Practitioner-PRN

Position Summary

The Hospice Nurse Practitioner provides clinical practice oversight and management in accordance with state specific nurse practice law for patients in the hospice and palliative care setting. Working under a collaborative practice agreement with the hospice Medical Director and team, the Nurse Practitioner collaborates with the attending physician, specialists, and non-physician providers as applicable for the purpose of coordination of care to effectively meet the medical, psychological, and spiritual needs of the patient.

This enables patients to live life as fully and comfortably as possible in an atmosphere where patients and families are able to share their thoughts, hopes and concerns.

Position Qualifications:

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.
• The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education/Experience

• Master’s degree in nursing
• 1 year Hospice experience preferred.

Certificates and Licenses

• Current STATE RN and Advanced Practice Nurse License
• Valid Driver’s License
• Current auto insurance verification
• American Heart Association CPR Certification

LANGUAGE SKILLS

English is the primary language of the facility. Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of executives, managers, clients, customers, and the public.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals.

REASONING ABILITY

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instruction furnished in written, oral and/or diagram form. Ability to define and solve problems, interpret data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions.

COMPUTER SKILL

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of word processing software and spreadsheet software as well as Point of Care systems. Must also have experience with internet and email systems.

Primary Position Responsibilities

• Collaborates with the IDG in assuring appropriate evaluation and palliative treatment of terminal disease.
• Consults with and educates the patient/family regarding disease process, self-care techniques, end-of-life care. Provides training to other staff as needed.
• Perform Face-to-Face visits at the patient's place of residence.
• Interacts with attending and consulting physicians as necessary regarding palliative care, in collaboration with hospice physicians.
• Provides clinical assessment results to hospice physician after making face-to-face encounters with patients, as assigned.
• Keeps up with and maintains education/knowledge in pharmacology and palliative medicine.
• Knowledge of hospice criteria.

Patient Rights Promotes and protects patients’ rights; treats patients with dignity and respect; reports suspected abuse or neglect.

Leadership Demonstrates willingness to try new tasks; generates new ideas for change; evaluates and recognizes priorities; communicates and models organizational values; fosters high performance; recognizes need for and provides adequate resources.

Process Improvement Applies process improvement methods and techniques; assists in data collection; identifies processes for improvement in daily work; and assists in education of new employees in the team process.

Environment Of Care Demonstrates understanding of fire and emergency procedures; participates in fire and disaster drills; demonstrates understanding of safety and security procedures; applies safety and security precautions; demonstrates understanding of hazardous materials plan; demonstrates proper use of equipment.

Infection Control Applies hand-washing principles during daily work; demonstrates understanding of isolation precautions; recognizes signs and symptoms of infection and complies with the employee health program; demonstrates understanding of the process for identifying and handling infectious waste; maintains personal hygiene; complies with OSHA standards in the work place; and demonstrates understanding of cross-contamination.

Information Management Enters or records data timely and accurately; protects confidentiality of patient information; protects data against loss or destruction; reports suspected violation of security/confidentiality issues.