Nurse Practitioner - Neurosurgery

SUMMARY:

In collaboration with a physician, provides comprehensive assessment of patient’s health status, evaluates assessment data, and makes treatment decisions.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS :

Initiates patient admissions and collects health, illness psychosocial, and family history from patients; provides initial care of emergencies.

Performs physical examinations, and orders appropriate diagnostic tests.

Records patient’s health information, performs periodic health evaluations, and establishes/records care plans; evaluates care plans, monitors and records progress, and makes modifications accordingly.             

Determines normal and abnormal findings on patient history, physical examination, diagnostic tests; initiates referral and consultation when appropriate.

Consults and collaborates with members of the health care team in the assessment and management of health care problems; functions as a liaison between physicians, nursing, technologists and area support staff.

Prescribes, regulates, and adjusts medications including over the counter medications and treatments.

Provides teaching and counseling aimed at prevention of illness and modification of risk factors to health, and maintenance of high-level wellness; instructs and supervises students and hospital personnel in methods and theories of diagnostic testing.

Assumes responsibility for the on-going therapeutic management of stable long-term health problems in the chronically ill.

Completes patient discharge summary.

Assists in the development, implementation, and revision of nursing protocols and standards of care.

Provides IT skills and familiarity, by using the basic functionality of the computer, Word, Excel, Outlook e-mail and attachment capabilities.

Maintains compliance with regulatory requirements.

Performs other evaluative and supportive duties, due to the advanced nature of training and the Licensed Independent Practitioner (LIP) status, as needed.

Researches and provides advice on patient care processes, nursing processes, and larger-scale quality improvement projects.

Adheres to and supports team members in exhibiting TMCH values of integrity, community, compassion, and dedication. 

Adheres to TMCH organizational and department-specific safety and confidentiality policies and standards.

Performs related duties as assigned.

Neurosurgery:

Must be an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) or Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP).

Within the outpatient (office) setting, the neurosurgical NP responsibilities include:

• Evaluating and treating new and existing patients
• Obtaining and documenting comprehensive history, performing physical examinations, and conducting other assessment and screening tools, as appropriate
• Diagnosing, treating, and managing patients with acute and chronic neurosurgical conditions
• Performing minor office procedures, including routine wound care, dressing changes, drain removal aspiration of subcutaneous fluid collections for culture or therapeutic purposes, suture/staple removal, shunt evaluation and programming
• Prescribing medications, durable medical equipment, and therapeutic interventions

Within the inpatient/hospital setting, the neurosurgical NP responsibilities include:

·         Rounding/follow-up care and management of postoperative patients.

·         Complete perioperative orders for surgical patients (including preoperative and postoperative management)

• Diagnosing, treating, and managing patients with acute and chronic neurosurgical conditions. This includes new hospital consults and existing inpatients as appropriate.
• Obtaining and documenting comprehensive history, performing physical examinations, and conducting other assessment and screening tools, as appropriate
• Performing minor bedside procedures or assisting physician with procedures, including routine wound care, drain removal, dressing changes, aspiration of subcutaneous fluid collections for culture or therapeutic purposes, suture/staple removal, shunt reservoir aspiration, shunt programming

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION: Master’s degree in Nursing or related area, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.  

EXPERIENCE:  Five (5) years of related experience, preferably in an acute care setting. (not all years as an NP, RN experience will be taken into account)

LICENSURE OR CERTIFICATION:   National certification as a Nurse Practitioner or must be National Certification as a Nurse Practitioner eligible, must become credentialed at TMC through the Professional Staffing Office prior to appointment.  Must have and maintain a current Arizona state license as a Registered Nurse and Nurse Practitioner including prescriptive authority.  Must obtain and maintain a current Federal Drug Enforcement Agency License for prescribing controlled substances.  Must obtain and maintain current certification in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS); for Mental Health only Crisis Prevention Instruction (CPI) required.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: 

·         Knowledge of nursing care and assessment best practices.

·         Knowledge of regulations and policies as it relates to patient evaluation, care and information.

·         Skill in evaluating comprehensive health assessments and evaluating results to ensure the most appropriate treatment option.

·         Skill in providing the best practice patient care.

·         Ability to read, analyze, and interpret professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations.

·         Ability to write reports, correspondence, and procedure protocols.

·         Ability to effectively present information and respond to inquiries or complaints from patients and/or their representatives, and the general public.

·         Ability to work with concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions, and to apply mathematical operations to solve or analyze job-related situations.

·         Ability to identify positive or negative variances from expected outcomes.

·         Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.

·         Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.