Palliative Nurse Practitioner

VIA Health Partners is an industry leader and top-10 nationally ranked provider of end-of-life care. More importantly, we are proud to be a community-based, not-for-profit hospice and palliative care provider. We have deep community roots, with decades of experience serving all patients’ and families’ needs regardless of their ability to pay or their medical complexity. We are a people-first organization whose funds go to serve our mission.

Benefits

• Medical, vision, and dental plans through BCBS
• 28 days of Paid Time Off
• Excellent mileage reimbursement rate
• 403b Retirement plan with matching
• Focused programs honoring Veteran patients
• Assistance with achieving Certified Hospice & Palliative Nurse (CHPN)
• Best-in-class orientation and onboarding program
• Seasoned hospice leaders guiding your career growth

Responsibilities

In addition to the general services outlined by the Board HPCCR, Nurse Practitioners will also provide the following specific services related to the care of patients with advanced life-threatening/life-limiting illnesses:

• Promotes the highest quality of end-of-life care including hospice care and widespread use of advanced directives.
• Prevents suffering and alleviates physical, spiritual, and psychological pain.
• Diagnoses, treats, and manages pain and other symptoms frequently experienced by patients at the end of life.
• Guides and counsels patients and their families regarding disease progression, prognosis, and the benefits/burdens of therapeutic measures, tests, procedures, and drugs.
• Prescribes and/or recommends therapeutic measures, tests, procedures, and drugs (including narcotics) in accordance with the ethical principles of medicine.
• Plans for situations beyond the nurse practitioner’s expertise and confers with the Medical Director or a Medical Services Physician as appropriate.
• Serves as an end-of-life care education resource both within the organization and in the outside community.
• Pursues actively and passionately educational opportunities that lead to improved outcomes.

As part of the comprehensive and compassionate care of patients with advanced life-threatening/life-limiting illnesses, a Nurse Practitioner may utilize the following strategies:

• Evaluates patients by performing history and physical examinations.
• Discusses patient with attending physicians, consultants, nursing staff, and other medical professionals.
• Prescribes systemic and topical drug therapies including narcotics for pain and other symptoms.
• Conducts patient/family meetings to review medical issues and establish goals of care.
• Provides general psychosocial support.
• Refers for diet/exercise therapies.
• Recommends other non-pharmacological therapies such as massage therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and music therapy.
• Recommends additional psychosocial counseling by mental health professionals.
• Prescribes medical supplies and equipment.
• Recommends appropriate diagnostic tests and studies.
• Reviews and discusses advance care directives.
• Recommends referral to hospice services.
• Participates in team discussions regarding patient care to gain insight and suggestions.
• Self-directs learning to remain up-to-date on current trends in hospice and palliative medicine.

The following list is a general outline of the basic duties of a Nurse Practitioner:

• Provides comprehensive medical care to HPCCR patients.
• Serves as a medical resource for HPCCR staff.
• Assists in staff training.
• Assists in education and training of healthcare professionals and the public.
• Optimizes cost-effective plan of care.
• Assists in the development of policies.
• Maximizes clinical efficiency to ensure reimbursement is optimized.
• Enhances palliative and hospice care by promoting increased and earlier referrals to palliative medicine and hospice.
• Submits billing and documentation according to policy.
• Accommodates requests from the Medical Director to add or modify duties to accomplish team and organization goals.
• May perform other duties as required.

Requirements

• Master’s Degree in nursing.
• Current, active, and unrestricted license as a Registered Nurse (RN) in North Carolina.
• Official recognition as a Nurse Practitioner from the NC Board of Nursing.
• Successful board certification in specialty within 2 years of date of hire.
• Current and unrestricted DEA and Basic Life Support certification required.
• Computer proficiency is required.

Qualifications

• Minimum 1 year of related experience.
• Experience in direct care of patients with life-limiting illnesses required.
• Related experience may include hospice and palliative care; family medicine; internal medicine; geriatrics; oncology; home health care; medical-surgical.