Pediatric Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant - Emergency Medicine

Texas Children's Medical Center•Houston, TX

About The Position

The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant practices in a pediatric setting, providing developmentally and age-appropriate health maintenance for well children, episodic care for ill children, and comprehensive care for children with chronic conditions. The advanced practice provider works under a delineation of clinical privileges and collaborates with other members of the health care team. Under established guidelines and clinical protocols, the provider assumes independent and interdependent responsibilities for assessment, diagnosis, treatment initiation, and procedures. The work is performed in a manner appropriate to the ages of patients served. The role also includes education, research, consultation, and evaluation of clinical practice. Nurse practitioners use advanced practice knowledge and skills to assess and manage patients, formulate and document care plans, evaluate responses to interventions, collaborate with physicians and other health professionals, and provide education to patients, families, communities, and professionals. They maintain current professional knowledge through literature, staff development, and continuing education, and participate in quality improvement and assigned departmental or hospital committees. Physician assistants provide medical services within their education, training, scope of practice, and the supervising physician’s delegation. Duties include obtaining and documenting patient histories, distinguishing normal from abnormal findings, prescribing or administering delegated medications, administering vaccines as appropriate, ordering diagnostic tests, collaborating with the interdisciplinary team, and establishing collaborative relationships with patients and families. Successful candidates must undergo respiratory fit testing in compliance with occupational health and safety standards.

Requirements

Nurse Practitioner: Master’s degree in nursing.
Nurse Practitioner: RN license from the Texas Board of Nursing or Nursing Licensure Compact.
Nurse Practitioner: FNP, NNP, PNP-BC, WHNP-BC, CPNP-AC, or AG-ACNP certification from the Texas Board of Nursing.
Physician Assistant: Bachelor’s degree.
Physician Assistant: Physician Assistant certification by the Texas Medical Board.

Nice To Haves

For Nurse Practitioners, PNP-AC or ENP certification is strongly preferred.
Pediatric experience is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Collect and evaluate health assessment data and manage a patient caseload.
Obtain comprehensive health, developmental, and family histories and document them in the medical record.
Assess patients’ physical status through examination and distinguish normal from abnormal findings.
Perform or recommend age-appropriate health screenings and provide health maintenance and promotion for children of all ages.
Perform and evaluate diagnostic procedures and laboratory tests.
Analyze multiple sources of data and collaborate with physicians on differential diagnoses.
Follow established delegation protocols, formulate care plans with other health professionals, and document them in the medical record.
Evaluate patient responses to interventions and modify plans of care as appropriate.
Present and document patient data, impressions, and plans of care.
Communicate effectively, collaborate with other health disciplines, and work to eliminate communication barriers.
Interview patients and families, involve them in care planning, and request consultation or initiate referrals when appropriate.
Communicate comprehensive assessments, impressions, and care plans to health care team members.
Provide education to patients, families, the community, and health care professionals.
Apply current pediatric nursing knowledge and maintain professional, managerial, and technical knowledge through literature, staff development, and continuing education.
Participate in assigned departmental and hospital committees and the departmental Quality Improvement program.
Demonstrate behaviors consistent with the development of advanced nursing practice.
Provide medical services within the Physician Assistant’s education, training, scope of practice, and supervising physician delegation.
Prescribe or administer medications as delegated by the supervising physician and document them in medical records.
Administer appropriate vaccines as observed by physicians and document them in medical records.
Order diagnostic tests consistent with differential diagnoses derived from gathered data.
Foster interdisciplinary collaboration and establish respectful, empathetic, collaborative relationships with patients and families.
Undergo respiratory fit testing.