Nurse Practitioner Palliative Care

JOB SUMMARY

The Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner provides care for patients with life-limiting, progressive, and terminal illnesses, and their families with a focus on alleviating suffering and improving quality of life.

This will be provided through:

• Home based/community facility visits for consultative visits for pain and symptom management and counseling on goals of care and advanced care planning.
• Outpatient palliative consultations performed in the primary care clinic and outpatient oncology setting for pain and symptom management and counseling on goals of care and advanced care planning.
• Inpatient consultative services with focus transitions of care planning, counseling for goals of care and advanced care planning, and/or evaluating for hospice appropriateness.

PRINCIPLE FUNCTIONS includes the following, other duties may be assigned:

• Conducts comprehensive and/or problem-focused physical, emotional, social, cultural, and spiritual assessment of pain and other symptoms of patients and families experiencing life-limiting, progressive, and terminal illness.
• Orders, may perform, and interprets common screening and diagnostic tests based on the goal of care for palliative care patients.
• Analyzes and interprets history, presenting symptoms, physical findings, and diagnostic information to formulate appropriate differential diagnoses for patient and families experiencing life-limiting, progressive, and terminal illness.
• Utilizes advanced knowledge and skills to assess physical, emotional, psychosocial, and existential suffering of patients and families experiencing life-limiting, progressive, and terminal illness.
• Identifies expected outcomes based on critical analysis of both complex data and diagnosis that are relevant to the patient, family, and interdisciplinary healthcare team and with consideration of risks, benefits, burden, and cost.
• Applies relevant conceptual models, theories, and research in developing, implementing, and evaluating comprehensive, effective, compassionate, and culturally sensitive plans of care across a variety of healthcare settings which promote health and manage life-limiting, progressive, and terminal illness experienced by patients and families.
• Prescribe/recommends medications to alleviate pain and other symptoms associated with life-limiting, progressive, and terminal illness. Manages complex pain/symptoms based on evidenced based practice and guidelines.
• Manages and treats complex physical, emotional, social, and spiritual problems/needs of patients and families experiencing life-limiting, progressive, and terminal illness by integrating appropriate nonpharmacologic and complementary/integrated therapies into the plan of care.
• Provides guidance and counseling to patients and families regarding the management of life-threatening, progressive, and terminal illness throughout the trajectory from time of diagnosis with advanced disease and into the bereavement period for families/survivors.
• Assumes responsibility for overall evaluation, documentation, and communication of care to enhance continuity of palliative care across healthcare settings and decrease fragmentation of care.
• Accurately documents comprehensive or problem-focused palliative for maximum reimbursement of services.
• Evaluates patients' and families' responses to palliative care and the effectiveness of care in achieving palliative care outcomes, such as quality of life of patients and families.
• Participates in quality improvement activities to improve quality of health care delivery.
• Demonstrates knowledge of Hospice Medicare Benefit, services, and reimbursement issues.
• Consults with the Hospice Medical Director or designees as needed, works collaboratively with other physicians and health care providers involved in patient's care, make appropriate referrals to other health care professionals as needed.
• Creates, develops, and implements both formal and informal education related to palliative care across the continuum of care spectrum as well as the community.
• Provides leadership and support related to systems change, supporting and improving clinical practice, and implementing evidenced based interventions to increase quality of care for the continuum of care. This can be accomplished through chairing or serving on committees within the institution, project management, and research as indicated.

JOB KNOWLEDGE & QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Completion of accredited Master of Nursing or Doctorate of Nursing Program.

Training and Experience

Graduate training in Palliative Care or minimum of three years of professional experience in palliative or hospice care required.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations

• Active WA State RN & NP License required.
• Current BLS certification required.
• Active unrestricted DEA license required.
• Active Board Certification by a nationally accredited agency as an Adult or Family Nurse Practitioner.
• Certification in ACHPN preferred, or willing to obtain in the next 12-18 months,

Benefit Information and Wage Transparancy: WhidbeyHealth Employees who work a 0.6 FTE or higher are categorized as, "benefit eligible".
Click here for benefit information.

Wage Range: $130,000 - $140,000 (Potential Sign-On Incentive)