Advanced Practice - Thoracic Surgery - NP or Physician Assistant - Night Shift

Vanderbilt University Medical Center•Nashville, TN

15d

About The Position

The Advanced Practice Provider (APP) is a key member of the multidisciplinary healthcare team, collaborating with physicians and other care providers to manage a distinct patient population in the inpatient acute care setting. The APP provides specialized, evidence-based care to hospitalized patients, follows established clinical pathways and protocols, and demonstrates advanced medical knowledge, clinical and technical competence, sound judgment, and professional communication. The role also includes timely, compliant documentation and participation in professional development and competency validation. In Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Thoracic Surgery division, the APP cares for inpatient thoracic surgery patients. The department treats non-cardiac chest surgery, lung transplantation, and complex oncologic conditions, including lung and esophageal cancers, pulmonary nodules and metastases, pleural and mediastinal diseases, tracheal disorders, chest wall tumors and deformities, end-stage lung disease, and patients requiring lung transplantation or ECMO management. Duties generally include rounding, responding to calls from the floor, admissions and discharges, and pulling chest tubes. This is not an operating-room position. The position is a night-shift role with 13-hour shifts, typically three shifts per week. The APP may be an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant. APPs are integrated into the medical team and may manage inpatient rounds, evaluate postoperative patients in the PACU, manage complex high-acuity surgical cases, and handle consultations. The role offers exposure to unique pathologies associated with Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and Vanderbilt’s lung transplant program.

Requirements

Master’s or doctorate degree in nursing or physician assistant studies; the position qualifications also list a master’s degree.
National board certification as an Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP), Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP), or Physician Assistant (PA).
Tennessee license/certificate of fitness to prescribe; eligible for NPI and DEA.
Tennessee licensure listed for the role includes Licensed Nurse Practitioner, Physician’s Assistant Certified, or Registered Nurse.
Critical care background is highly preferred.
Relevant work experience is listed; the experience level is listed as less than one year.

Nice To Haves

Critical care background.

Responsibilities

Obtain and document health histories and perform and document complete, system-focused, or symptom-specific examinations, assessments, and plans of care.
Collaborate in providing primary, acute, and complex care and manage patients’ overall care, including identifying expected outcomes for diagnoses.
Order, perform, interpret, and collect data using appropriate assessment techniques, supporting diagnostic information, and diagnostic procedures where indicated.
Form differential diagnoses and treat acute and chronic conditions.
Prescribe pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic, and surgical therapeutic interventions needed to achieve expected outcomes.
Use evidence-based, approved practice protocols to plan and implement care.
Initiate appropriate referrals and consultations.
Provide specialty-specific consultation services upon request and within the specialty scope of practice.
Facilitate patient transitions between and within healthcare settings, including admissions, transfers, and discharges.
Round on inpatient thoracic surgery patients and respond to calls from the floor regarding patients.
Pull chest tubes.
Evaluate postoperative patients in the PACU, manage complex high-acuity surgical cases, and handle consultations as applicable.
Document findings, assessments, and plans of care clearly and use the electronic health record to capture patient-care data.
Educate patients, families, students, and healthcare team members on clinical topics and application of clinical knowledge.
Use evidence and clinical data to evaluate and improve care quality and patient outcomes.
Additional duties may be assigned.

Benefits

Affordable high-quality health plan options.
Dental and/or vision plan.
403(b) retirement plan.
Paid time off (flex PTO).
Tuition reimbursement.
Adoption assistance, subject to maximums.
Short- and long-term disability.
Subsidized backup childcare.
An inpatient nursing supplemental pay program is available; ask about current details.
Benefits may include health, disability, retirement, and/or wellness offerings.