Acute Care Nurse Practitioner – Geriatrics - TMC

About the role

Tucson Medical Center’s New Geriatric Program is seeking an Adult Geriatrics - Acute Care Nurse Practitioner to join their interdisciplinary team. The ideal candidate will have substantial inpatient expertise and a robust foundation in geriatric care.

Responsibilities

• Conducts thorough assessments of older adults, including medical, functional, cognitive, psychosocial, and nutritional domains.
• Identifies geriatric syndromes such as delirium, falls, frailty, polypharmacy, depression, and dementia.
• Develops individualized care plans in collaboration with the interdisciplinary team.
• Provides direct patient care, including diagnosis, treatment, and management of acute and chronic conditions common in older adults.
• Initiates and monitors evidence-based interventions to prevent and manage complications (e.g., delirium, pressure injuries, infections).
• Performs medication reconciliation and reviews for appropriateness, minimizing polypharmacy and adverse drug events.
• Carefully coordinates care across the continuum (admission, hospitalization, discharge, and follow-up).
• Ensures comprehensive discharge planning, including patient/family education and post-discharge follow-up.
• Educates nursing staff, physicians, allied health professionals, patients, and families on best practices in geriatric care.
• Participates in the development, implementation, and evaluation of geriatric care protocols and pathways.
• Collects and analyzes data on key quality indicators (e.g., falls, delirium, readmissions) to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Advocates for the unique needs and preferences of older adults in the hospital setting.
• Facilitates shared decision-making, advanced care planning, and discussions about goals of care.
• Interacts with interdisciplinary team members to lead or participate in rounds and case conferences focused on geriatric patients.

Requirements

• Must be certified as an ACNP.
• Preferred, one (1) year of related experience in an inpatient, acute care setting.
• Strong geriatric background.
• Current Arizona state license as a Registered Nurse and Nurse Practitioner including prescriptive authority.
• Current Federal Drug Enforcement Agency License for prescribing controlled substances.
• Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification; for Mental Health only, Crisis Prevention Instruction (CPI) required.

Qualifications

• Education: Must be certified as an ACNP.
• Licensure/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.

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.