Hospice Nurse Practitioner

Job Description

Job Description

Position Summary:

The Hospice Nurse Practitioner provides advanced clinical care, consultation, and interdisciplinary support for hospice patients and families across home, facility-based, office-based, and telehealth settings. The role supports high-quality, patient-centered end-of-life care through symptom management, urgent clinical triage, patient visits, face-to-face recertification encounters, medication management, goals-of-care support, staff education, quality improvement, and participation in hospice operations. The Nurse Practitioner works collaboratively with hospice leadership, the Hospice Medical Director, hospice physicians, attending providers, and the hospice interdisciplinary group

Responsibilities

Qualified individuals must be capable of performing the following essential duties and responsibilities, with or without reasonable accommodation:

 

1. Advanced Clinical Care and Consultation

• Provides advanced clinical assessment, consultation, and direct care for hospice patients with complex symptoms, changing clinical status, or emerging patient and family needs.
• Develops and recommends patient-centered care strategies in collaboration with the interdisciplinary hospice team and attending providers.
• Serves as a clinical resource to hospice staff regarding disease trajectories, prognosis, symptom management, medication considerations, and escalation pathways.

2. Symptom Management, Triage, and Patient Visits

• Responds to urgent and non-urgent clinical concerns escalated by hospice staff, intake, managers, or interdisciplinary team members.
• Provides timely guidance for pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic management of pain, dyspnea, nausea, agitation, delirium, terminal secretions, and other hospice-related symptoms.
• Conducts in-person and telehealth visits in homes, nursing facilities, assisted living settings, comfort care homes, and other approved care environments as clinically indicated.
• Determines when additional intervention is needed, including medication changes, follow-up visits, coordination with the attending provider, or escalation to hospice physician.

3. Hospice Face-to-Face Encounters

• Completes hospice face-to-face encounters for patients approaching recertification periods in accordance with Medicare hospice requirements and organizational policy.
• Documents clinical findings related to prognosis, function, disease progression, symptom burden, and ongoing hospice eligibility.
• Communicates relevant eligibility concerns or changes in clinical status to hospice physicians and the interdisciplinary team.

4. Attending Provider and Medication Management Responsibilities

• May serve as the attending hospice provider when selected by the patient, consistent with applicable regulations, organizational policy, and patient choice.
• Prescribes medications within applicable licensure, certification, scope of practice, and agency policy.
• Supports timely access to hospice-related medications, including symptom-management medications, refills, comfort care kit prescriptions, and other clinically appropriate orders.
• Collaborates with hospice physicians, attending providers, pharmacists, nursing staff, facilities, and caregivers to ensure medication plans are safe, appropriate, and responsive to patient needs.

5. Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Communication

• Participates in interdisciplinary group meetings, case conferences, huddles, and care coordination discussions when appropriate.
• Supports patient and family conversations related to goals of care, disease progression, hospice philosophy, advance care planning, and end-of-life care.
• Assists with complex communication needs, care planning concerns, conflict resolution, and service recovery when appropriate.
• Completes or supports clinically relevant documents as appropriate to role and policy, which may include advance care planning documentation, medical necessity documentation, family medical leave paperwork, utility letters, and death certificates.

6. Operational Support and Role Flexibility

• Participates in assigned office-based and home visit-based clinical functions based on patient need and program operations.
• Provides clinical triage, prescription support, interdisciplinary coordination, urgent visits, follow-up evaluations, complex admission support, and face-to-face encounters as assigned.
• Supports cross-coverage during colleague absences and adjusts priorities in collaboration with hospice leadership and physician backup.

7. On-Call and After-Hours Coverage

• Participates equitably in shared hospice provider on-call coverage, including evenings, weekends, and holidays.
• Provides timely clinical guidance for urgent patient needs, symptom-management concerns, medication-related decisions, and escalation of complex issues during assigned coverage periods.

8. Documentation, Compliance, Quality, and Education

• Completes accurate and timely documentation in the electronic medical record in accordance with hospice standards, regulatory expectations, and agency policy.
• Maintains familiarity with Medicare Hospice Conditions of Participation and applicable clinical, regulatory, and operational requirements.
• Participates in quality improvement, workflow development, clinical practice refinement, policy review, and program support activities.
• Provides clinical education, consultation, and practical guidance to hospice staff regarding symptom management, hospice principles, documentation, and regulatory expectations.
• Supports orientation and onboarding of new staff as assigned.

9. Other Duties

• Performs other duties as assigned by the Director of Hospice, Hospice Medical Director, or designee, consistent with the scope and purpose of the position.

 

*Note: The above information on this job has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

Qualifications

 

Education & Experience - Applicants must possess the following qualifications or an equivalent combination of education and experience:

• Education: Master’s degree or higher in nursing from an accredited nurse practitioner program, with educational preparation consistent with New York State requirements for certification as an Adult or Family Nurse Practitioner.

• Experience:
  • Clinical experience in hospice, palliative care, geriatrics, oncology, serious illness care, home care, primary care, or a related field preferred.
  • Experience managing complex symptoms in patients with advanced illness preferred.
  • Experience working with interdisciplinary teams and family-centered care planning preferred.

 

Licensure, Certification, and/or Credential Requirements

• Current New York State licensure as a Registered Professional Nurse.
• Current New York State licensure and certification as an Adult Nurse Practitioner or Family Nurse Practitioner.
• National nurse practitioner certification, maintained in good standing.
• Authorization and credentials necessary to participate in Medicare and Medicaid billing, where required by the employer.

 

Knowledge, Skill, & Ability Requirements

• Familiarity with hospice eligibility, end-of-life medication management, and hospice documentation requirements preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to provide advanced clinical assessment, medical decision-making, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with patients, families, staff, and clinicians.
• Advanced clinical judgment, timely documentation, and practice consistent with applicable licensure, certification, scope-of-practice requirements, hospice regulations, and organizational policies required.
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Salary: $89,606.40 - $126,339.00

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