Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant - Orthopedic Surgery (PM&R/Spine)

Nurse PractitionerNo callFull-Time Physician-Supervised State

Listed compensation

$93k-$168k

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the work setting, weekend coverage and nights and shift pattern.

Posted 4mo ago · Verified live

Job Description

Scheduled Hours 40 Position Summary The Orthopedic Spine Nurse Practitioner (NP) or Physician Assistant (PA) at WashU Orthopedics is an integral clinical leader and valued member of the PM&R/Spine team managing non-operative spine patients.

This position practices primarily in the outpatient setting across our Sunset Hills and Missouri Baptist and South County locations in St. Louis.

This role requires strong leadership skills to inspire and support staff, along with the adaptability to navigate changing priorities, workflows, and clinical protocols while maintaining exceptional patient care.

The NP or PA will facilitate multidisciplinary care—with a focus on outstanding clinical outcomes, patient experience, and compassionate care. Success in this role requires collaboration, excellent communication, and the ability to build strong relationships with patients, families, physicians, and care teams.

At WashU Orthopedics, we are committed to treating every patient like family while delivering world-class orthopedic care to our community each day. If you are a dedicated Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant with a passion for teamwork, leadership, and quality care, we invite you to join our team.

Job Description Primary Duties & Responsibilities: Provides direct patient care to include obtaining patient history, performing patient assessment via observation, interview and examination; orders, performs and interprets diagnostic studies; performs preventative health assessments, screenings, immunizations and care; provides direct treatment and management of acute and chronic disease conditions; develops and implements patient-centered plan of care in collaboration with physicians, patients, consultants, nurses, ancillary care providers and others as appropriate to the patient's condition.

May bill for services covered by collaborative practice agreement. Provides counseling and education of patients and their families/caregivers concerning disease management, complication prevention, disease prevention, and quality of life improvement measures, and outcome management activities.

Monitors/ensures accuracy of patient medical records; maintains all required reports, records, statistics, etc. Maintains a safe, comfortable and therapeutic environment for patients/families in accordance with established clinic/hospital standards.

Manages health conditions via prescriptive authority or referral to other healthcare providers or community resources; may perform diagnostic or therapeutic interventions consistent with certification and state regulations.

Champions the safety and quality of care for patients using ITB therapy and serves as an expert in the care and management of ITB pumps. Helps develop a detailed educational program for the patients and lead the quality and safety initiative for the program.

Serves as clinical expert regarding rehabilitation nursing while demonstrating a high level of autonomy and expert skill in complex clinical nursing situations.

Provides management services for clinical research study projects; monitors participating subjects, including medication administration and family/patient education.

Works in accordance with established departmental policies and procedures, objectives, quality assurance programs, and safety, environmental and infection control standards.

Regularly participates in constant quality improvement and process improvement activities centered on the goal of providing exceptional, evidence-based patient care. Enhances professional growth and development through educational programs, current literature, in-service meetings and workshops.

Contributes to the advancement of the rehabilitation nursing profession as a whole through research, publications, and presentations. Performs other duties as assigned.

Working Conditions: Job Location/Working Conditions Normal office environment Exposure to blood-borne pathogens Exposure to chemicals Requires protective devices Dust, dirt, grease or other disagreeable elements Patient care setting Direct patient care setting Physical Effort Typically sitting at desk or table Typically standing or walking Typically bending, crouching, stooping Using tools requiring high dexterity Occasional lifting (25 lbs or less) Equipment Office equipment Lab/research equipment Clinical/diagnostic equipment The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification.

They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.

Required

Qualifications

Education

Master's degree Certifications/Professional Licenses: The list below may include all acceptable certifications, professional licenses and issuers. More than one credential, certification or professional license may be required depending on the role.

Basic Life Support - American Heart Association, Basic Life Support - American Red Cross Work Experience: No specific work experience is required for this position. Skills: Not Applicable Driver's License: A driver's license is not required for this position.

More About This Job We are seeking a dedicated NP or PA to join our team. Below are additional requirements and information based on each role: Required Qualifications: Nurse Practitioner Master of Science in Nursing with emphasis in the Nurse Practitioner program.

Advanced Practical Nurse licensure (or ability to successfully obtain licensure within three months of date of hire). Certain/additional certifications may be necessary based on area of specialty.

Basic Life Support certification (Online Basic Life Support certifications, those without a skills assessment component, are not sufficient to meet the Basic Life Support requirements). Physician Assistant Graduate of PA program.

Current PA licensure to practice in the state of Missouri and/or Illinois, depending on location, or ability to obtain within three months of date of hire. Certain/additional certifications may be necessary based on area of specialty.

Basic Life Support certification (Online BLS certifications, those without a skills assessment component, are not sufficient to meet the BLS requirements).

Preferred

Qualifications

Education

Master's degree - Nurse Practitioner, Master's degree - Physician Assistant Studies Certifications/Professional Licenses: Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) - Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) - Missouri Division of Professional Registration, Certified Nurse Practitioner - Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Certified Nurse Practitioner - Missouri Division of Professional Registration, Physician Assistant - Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Physician Assistant - Missouri Division of Professional Registration Work Experience: No additional work experience unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.

Skills: Adaptability, Clinical Decision Making, Clinical Diagnostics, Communication, Customer Empathy, Detail-Oriented, Disease Management, Epic EHR, Family Support, HIPAA Compliance, Interpersonal Communication, Interpersonal Relationships, Multitasking, Organizing, Patient Care, Patient Education, Patient Evaluations, Patient Management, Pharmacology, Preventive Care, Teamwork, Time Management Grade S31 Salary Range $93,300.00 - $167,800.00 / Annually The salary range reflects base salaries paid for positions in a given job grade across the University.

Individual rates within the range will be determined by factors including one's qualifications and performance, equity with others in the department, market rates for positions within the same grade and department budget.

Questions For frequently asked questions about the application process, please refer to our External Applicant FAQ.

Accommodation If you are unable to use our online application system and would like an accommodation, please email CandidateQuestions@wustl.edu or call the dedicated accommodation inquiry number at 314-935-1149 and leave a voicemail with the nature of your request.

All qualified individuals must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily and, if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.

Pre-Employment Screening All external candidates receiving an offer for employment will be required to submit to pre-employment screening for this position.

The screenings will include criminal background check and, as applicable for the position, other background checks, drug screen, an employment and education or licensure/certification verification, physical examination, certain vaccinations and/or governmental registry checks. All offers are contingent upon successful completion of required screening.

Benefits Statement Personal Up to 22 days of vacation, 10 recognized holidays, and sick time. Competitive health insurance packages with priority appointments and lower copays/coinsurance. Take advantage of our free Metro transit U-Pass for eligible employees.

WashU provides eligible employees with a defined contribution (403(b)) Retirement Savings Plan, which combines employee contributions and university contributions starting at 7%.

Wellness Wellness challenges, annual health screenings, mental health resources, mindfulness programs and courses, employee assistance program (EAP), financial resources, access to dietitians, and more! Family We offer 4 weeks of caregiver leave to bond with your new child.

Family care resources are also available for your continued childcare needs. Need adult care? We’ve got you covered. WashU covers the cost of tuition for you and your family, including dependent undergraduate-level college tuition up to 100% at WashU and 40% elsewhere after seven years

Key Responsibilities

Manage non-operative spine patients in an outpatient setting by providing direct patient care, diagnostic interpretations, and treatment plans. Lead quality and safety initiatives for ITB therapy and contribute to clinical research and rehabilitation nursing advancement.

Requirements

Requires a Master's degree and licensure as either a Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant in Missouri and/or Illinois. Basic Life Support certification is mandatory for all candidates.

Qualifications

Education
Master's degree (postgraduate degree)

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant - Orthopedic Surgery (PM&R/Spine) at Washington University in St. Louis a 6.3 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as good. This places the position in the Above average in Orthopedic Surgery (NP) — ranked against 130 active Orthopedic Surgery (NP) listings on WeekdayDoc. Contributing factors include no on-call duties.

Orthopedic Surgery — Nurse Practitioner Career Context

Washington University in St. Louis holds silver-tier status on WeekdayDoc's Top Employers work-life index, composite score 70/100, 72 active listings.

Of the 50 active Orthopedic Surgery listings this role was benchmarked against, 28% are remote, 52% have no call, 68% require no weekends.

Orthopedic Surgery pay on WeekdayDoc is up 24.6% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).

The cost-of-living index for Missouri is 90.8 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$131k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $144k in an average-cost state. 60.1% of Missouri clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Top Nurse Practitioner Jobs

32 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution32 jobs · 28 employers

10
<$145k
10
$145k-165k
4
$165k-185k
5
$185k-205k
3
$205k+

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks25 jobs

401k / retirement match
88% this job
Sign-on bonus
44%
CME allowance
44%
Loan repayment
16%
Relocation assistance
4%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

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Work-life snapshot

median 5.1this job 6.3
Better work-life than 70% of Orthopedic Surgery (NP) listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 130 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • No call

Living in St. Louis

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$258k≈ 2.8× annual pay
Typical market rent
$1,334/mo≈ 17% of gross pay
Residents’ average commute
22 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
95.1
State income tax
Up to 5.3%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · St. Louis, MO-IL metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

Ratios use this listing’s gross annual pay. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.

Washington University in St. Louis logo

About Washington University in St. Louis

Technology, Information and Internet
St Louis, Missouri
11-50 employees

Benefits & Perks

Up to 22 days of vacation
10 recognized holidays
Sick time
Competitive health insurance packages
Free Metro transit U-Pass
403(b) Retirement Savings Plan with university contributions starting at 7%
Wellness challenges
Annual health screenings