NP or PA Rapid Response Team & ICU Support Team

Vanderbilt University Medical Center•Nashville, TN

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Advanced Practice Provider (APP) is an integral member of a multidisciplinary healthcare team, delivering expert care in critical care settings. The role manages high-acuity ICU patients with unstable conditions who require intensive oversight, frequent rounding, and specialized care, including patients in medical and surgical ICUs with complex needs requiring advanced interventions. The APP applies advanced medical knowledge, clinical judgment, technical proficiency, professionalism, and interpersonal communication skills to deliver safe, high-quality care. The position also requires timely, compliant documentation, ongoing professional development, and competency validation, combining evidence-based practice with clinical expertise to address the needs of critical care patients. The rapid response/critical care outreach team (RRT/CCOT) provides 24-hour hospital-wide coverage for patients outside the ICU who experience an acute change in clinical status. The NP or PA works with the primary team and supervising intensivists to evaluate patients, identify interventions to stabilize their condition, and consider transfer to a higher level of care. The team also documents and collects data related to rapid response and STAT activations and provides education to patients, nurses, and physicians. The ICU Support Team APP works with a multidisciplinary healthcare team in medical and surgical critical care settings. APPs receive training and support for eight continuous weeks when moving to a new ICU before transitioning to a more independent role. Each year, APPs spend blocks of time on RRT/CCOT and several months supporting an ICU experiencing staffing shortages. The team works with physicians across the hospital and ICUs to care for critically ill and vulnerable patients. This is a full-time night-shift position, with shifts from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., working three 13-hour shifts. A $15,000 sign-on bonus is available to candidates with at least two years of critical care nurse practitioner or physician assistant experience; the bonus is not available to current Vanderbilt University Medical Center staff or former staff who worked there within the past 12 months and applies only to full-time positions.

Requirements

Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP) or Physician Assistant (PA) license required.
Tennessee licensure as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant and Tennessee registered nurse licensure are listed among certifications.
Master's degree.
Relevant work experience; the listed experience level is less than one year.
Advanced medical knowledge, clinical judgment, and technical proficiency.
Ability to provide critical care in a multidisciplinary setting and communicate effectively with patients, families, and healthcare teams.

Nice To Haves

Critical care registered nurse or advanced practice provider experience preferred.
At least two years of critical care nurse practitioner or physician assistant experience for eligibility for the sign-on bonus.

Responsibilities

Obtain and document health histories and perform and document complete, system-focused, or symptom-specific examinations, assessments, and plans of care.
Provide primary, acute, and complex patient care in collaboration with the healthcare team, manage overall care, and identify expected outcomes for diagnoses.
Order, perform, interpret, and collect data using appropriate assessment techniques, supporting diagnostic information, and diagnostic procedures when 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 within the scope of practice when requested.
Facilitate patient transitions between and within healthcare settings, including admission, transfer, and discharge.
Evaluate patients outside the ICU who experience acute changes in clinical status, identify stabilizing interventions, and consider transfer to a higher level of care.
Document and collect data related to rapid response and STAT activations.
Educate patients, nurses, and physicians in relation to rapid response and STAT calls.
Work in assigned ICUs and on the RRT/CCOT, including supporting ICUs experiencing staffing shortages.
Maintain timely and compliant documentation, professional development, and competency validation.