Nurse Practitioner - Palliative Care

Job Summary

Join a dedicated team delivering top-quality, accessible palliative care within the community's hospital and outpatient settings. We are committed to supporting you so you can focus entirely on improving patient and family well-being during life-limiting illnesses.

Responsibilities

• Comprehensive Palliative Care: Be responsible for all aspects of palliative care, ensuring patient and family comfort, dignity, and quality of life throughout the illness trajectory.
• Thorough Patient Assessment: Conduct comprehensive patient and family evaluations, optimize symptom management, and formulate individualized palliative care plans.
• Symptom Management: Administer and manage medications for pain, nausea, dyspnea, and other distressing symptoms, continuously monitoring patient responses and adapting care as needed.
• Advanced Care Planning: Facilitate sensitive conversations about goals of care, advanced directives, and end-of-life wishes, guiding patients and families through complex decisions.
• Collaboration and Communication: Actively participate in the interdisciplinary team, communicating effectively with physicians, nurses, social workers, and other specialists, and providing pertinent updates and support to patients and families.
• Documentation and Quality Improvement: Accurately document all palliative care for patient record and billing purposes, and contribute to continuous quality improvement initiatives within the department.
• Education and Mentorship: Support the education of medical staff, nursing staff, and other healthcare trainees on palliative care principles and practices.

Required Job Requirements

• Master's or Doctorate Degree from an accredited Nurse Practitioner program required.
• Current, unrestricted Nurse Practitioner (NP) License in the state of Colorado required.
• Current Nurse Practitioner Certification from a recognized national certifying body (e.g., ANCC, AANP) and Board Certification or Board Eligibility in Palliative Care and Hospice Nursing (APHN or ACHPN) or extensive experience and demonstrable expertise in palliative care.
• Current BLS (Basic Life Support) from the American Heart Association required.
• ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support) may be required depending on practice setting or specific credentialing requirements (e.g., intensive care, emergency consultation).
• Successful completion of a clinical practicum and/or relevant experience in palliative medicine.

Physical Requirements

Medium Work - (Exert up to 50lbs force occasionally, and/or up to 20lbs frequently, and/or up to 10lbs constantly)

Where You'll Work

Penrose - St. Francis Health Services is a full-service, 712-bed acute care provider in Colorado Springs comprising Penrose Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and St. Francis Hospital - Interquest. Penrose Hospital serves as the anchor hospital of Penrose-St. Francis Health Services with 300-licensed beds and the ability to provide tertiary (high tech) medical-surgical services with an emphasis on elective and outpatient care. Established in 1890, Penrose Hospital has grown to become a major health treatment and referral center, specializing in cancer care, cardiac care, emergency trauma care and physical rehabilitation. It's an incredible time to join us as we are a proud Magnet Hospital with designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for superior quality in nursing care.