Nurse Practitioner-Resident

ASCEND Nurse Practitioner Residency Program

Position Summary

The Nurse Practitioner Resident is a licensed, board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner employed by Brevard Health Alliance in the ASCEND Nurse Practitioner Residency Program.

The resident provides person-centered primary care within BHA's patient-centered medical home while completing a structured 12-month transition-to-practice program.

The role combines direct patient care, protected education, longitudinal mentorship, specialty and community experiences, simulation, professional development, and quality improvement.

Clinical responsibility and patient volume increase progressively according to demonstrated competence, patient-safety requirements, and formal evaluation.

Program Structure and Employment Term

• Full-time, 40-hour-per-week position that generally includes four clinical days and one protected didactic or program-development day, with adjustments for approved specialty, community, simulation, and interprofessional experiences.
• Fixed 12-month appointment that does not automatically renew as a residency position.
• Progressive autonomy is reviewed at approximately 3, 6, and 9 months and at program completion; advancement is based on documented competency rather than time alone.
• Successful completion may result in consideration for a permanent BHA nurse practitioner position. Any offer is separate from the residency appointment and depends on satisfactory performance, continued credentialing and licensure, organizational need, and position availability; permanent employment is not guaranteed.

General Education Requirements

• Master of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice, or equivalent graduate nurse practitioner degree from an appropriately accredited institution and a program accepted by the Florida Board of Nursing.
• Completion of a Family Nurse Practitioner program and graduation within 12 months before the residency start date.

Required Qualifications

• Clear and active Florida Advanced Practice Registered Nurse license by the required employment start date.
• Current national board certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner through a recognized certifying body.
• No prior employment as a nurse practitioner before entry into the program.
• Current Basic Life Support or CPR certification from the American Heart Association or American Red Cross.
• Meets all BHA employment, credentialing, privileging, background-screening, drug-screening, and work-authorization requirements.
• Proficiency with electronic health records or ability to achieve proficiency during onboarding.
• Effective oral and written communication, professional conduct, self-direction, receptiveness to feedback, and commitment to caring for medically underserved and culturally diverse populations.
• Ability to speak and understand English sufficiently to communicate safely and effectively with patients, families, and the healthcare team.

Primary Accountabilities

• Provides comprehensive, evidence-based primary care across the lifespan within approved scope, privileges, BHA policies, and the resident's demonstrated level of competence.
• Obtains histories; performs physical examinations; develops differentials; orders and interprets appropriate diagnostic tests; establishes diagnoses; and develops, implements, and evaluates treatment plans.
• Manages acute, episodic, preventive, and chronic health needs through the primary care medical home model, including health maintenance, screening, immunization, lifestyle counseling, and disease management.
• Prescribes and manages medications safely, therapeutically, and cost-effectively in accordance with Florida law, credentialing, formulary requirements, and BHA policy.
• Recognizes clinical deterioration, red flags, and conditions beyond current competence; obtains timely consultation and escalates urgent or complex concerns to the assigned clinical faculty preceptor or applicable clinical leader.
• Promotes shared decision-making and develops formal and informal education plans for patients and families that reflect health literacy, culture, preferences, access barriers, and social determinants of health.
• Coordinates referrals, transitions, follow-up, and interprofessional care with physicians, APRNs, nursing, behavioral health, pharmacy, care management, dental, specialty, community, and social-service partners.
• Completes accurate, timely, compliant clinical documentation, coding support, in-basket work, results management, and care coordination within established BHA standards.
• Provides care in a safe environment and follows infection prevention, medication safety, incident reporting, HIPAA, risk-management, and compliance requirements.

Residency Learning and Professional Development Accountabilities

• Participates fully in the ASCEND curriculum, including assigned didactic sessions, case-based learning, simulation, skills development, journal review, mentoring, and required independent learning.
• Completes required primary care continuity experiences and assigned rotations that may include pediatrics, women's health, behavioral health, infectious disease, diabetes management, dermatology, community health, and other program-approved specialties.
• Maintains attendance, preparation, professional engagement, and timely completion of program assignments, learning modules, pre-tests, post-tests, competency checklists, evaluations, and reflective self-assessments.
• Meets with the assigned mentor and clinical faculty as scheduled; actively requests, receives, and applies feedback; and participates in individualized learning or remediation plans when indicated.
• Demonstrates progressive development across the program's eight competency domains: person-centered care; knowledge for advanced nursing practice; practice-based learning and improvement; interpersonal and communication skills; professionalism; systems-based practice; interprofessional partnerships; and personal, professional, and leadership development.
• Participates in baseline assessment, ongoing direct observation and chart review, quarterly evaluations, case and skills validation, and an end-of-program readiness-for-independent-practice evaluation.
• Participates in a cohort-wide quality-improvement project aligned with BHA priorities, including problem identification, use of data, intervention planning, implementation, evaluation, and presentation or dissemination of results.
• Supports evaluation of the residency program by completing required surveys, providing constructive feedback, and participating in improvement activities.

Organizational Accountabilities

• Reports to the NP Residency Program Director for administrative, educational, professional-development, progression, and program matters. Receives clinical supervision, mentorship, feedback, and evaluation from assigned clinical faculty preceptors and applicable BHA clinical leadership.
• Attends required resident, provider, department, quality, and organizational meetings and communicates scheduling or patient-care conflicts promptly.
• Collaborates respectfully with clinical managers and team members to identify, mediate, and resolve patient-care, workflow, and team concerns.
• Participates in BHA continuous quality-improvement and population-health activities and supports approved performance measures appropriate to the resident's phase of development.
• Maintains professionalism, confidentiality, reliability, and ethical conduct and represents BHA's mission and organizational goals in all assigned settings.
• Performs other related duties consistent with the resident role, approved scope of practice, current competence, and program objectives.

Performance and Progression Expectations

Performance is assessed through competency attainment, quality and safety, clinical reasoning, documentation, communication, professionalism, completion of educational requirements, responsiveness to feedback, and appropriate growth in efficiency and autonomy.

Patient volume and productivity expectations are individualized by phase and may increase only when supported by evaluation.

Failure to meet patient-safety, employment, professionalism, attendance, licensure, credentialing, or progression requirements may result in remediation or other action under applicable BHA and ASCEND policies.