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Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Nocturnist Nurse Practitioner / Physician Assistant - CICU

Physician AssistantFull-Time

Pay as listed: $118k-$156k · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · pays below the median of 36 Physician Assistant listings (37th percentile).

Listed compensation

$118k-$156k

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, weekend coverage and time off.

Posted 1h ago · Verified live

Job Description

SHIFT: Night (United States of America)

Seeking Breakthrough Makers

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) offers countless ways to change lives. Our diverse community of more than 20,000 Breakthrough Makers will inspire you to pursue passions, develop expertise, and drive innovation.

At CHOP, your experience is valued; your voice is heard; and your contributions make a difference for patients and families. Join us as we build on our promise to advance pediatric care—and your career.

A Brief Overview

The Cardiac Center is a multidisciplinary center that consist of five major hospital departments: Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Cardiothoracic Anesthesia, Cardiac Critical Care Medicine and Cardiac Nursing.

The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) is a 38-bed unit caring for critically ill children pre- and post-surgery and/or children awaiting transplantation. Our surgical team performs more than 850 pediatric heart surgeries each year, including open heart and closed heart procedures and heart transplant—with outcomes that are among the best in the nation.

Our APP team consists of Acute Care Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants and House Physicians providing 24-hour coverage, 365 days per year. Our APPs are passionate about their work, and their influence extends beyond the hospital to community and global initiatives.

The Ideal Candidate Will Have

  • At least 1 year of experience practicing as a Physician Assistant or Nurse Practitioner required
  • For new graduate APPs: complete CHOP's APP Clinical Immersion Program - careers.chop.edu
  • For any questions, please reach out to Jim Kerwin - kerwinj@chop.edu

Nocturnist Role

The Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant Nocturnist position is dedicated exclusively to overnight coverage within the CICU. Nocturnists provide high-acuity cardiac critical care during nighttime hours, partnering closely with attending physicians, fellows, and interdisciplinary team members to manage complex postoperative and critically ill cardiac patients. This role ensures continuity of care, rapid response to clinical changes, and strong overnight team leadership.

Full-time nocturnists receive an additional $25,000 annually in recognition of their exclusive overnight commitment.

We are offering a $20,000 bonus to experienced Advanced Practice Providers (NPs/PAs) with 2 or more years of ICU and/or critical care experience.

What You Will Do

Assesses the complex acute, critical and chronically ill patient for urgent and emergent conditions. Uses relevant data to evaluate for physiologic instability. Utilizes the data to formulate a plan of care.

Performs therapeutic interventions to stabilize acute and critical health problems. Specific interventions are listed in the Scope of Practice Document and approved as a part of the credentialing/privileging process.

Analyzes the indications, contraindications, risk of complications and cost-benefits of therapeutic interventions.

Manages the plan of care through evaluation, modification and documentation according to the patient's response to therapy. Manages changes in condition with a focus on optimizing the patient outcomes.

Incorporates health promotion, health protection and injury prevention measures into the plan of care within the context of the complex acute, critical and chronic illness.

Facilitates the patient's transitions between and within health care settings.

Serves as an educational resource to the patient/family, nursing staff, and provider team. Acts as a consultant to multidisciplinary health care team members.

Participates in scholarly activities including research and education. Participates in own professional development by maintaining required competencies, identifying learning needs and seeking appropriate educational offerings. Participates in the professional development of others. Acts as a preceptor and mentor to support the development of nurses, nurse practitioners, students, and other health care providers.

Demonstrates a commitment to patient safety by speaking up about safety issues and changing practice to enhance safety. Shares errors or potential errors through system reporting mechanisms. Demonstrates shared accountability for safe practice.

  • Education Qualifications
  • Bachelor's Degree Physician Assistant Required
  • Master's Degree Physician Assistant Preferred or
  • Master's Degree Nursing Required

Skills and Abilities

  • Ability to work in an inter-professional team setting with multiple responsibilities.
  • Ability to use computer and electronic medical records effectively.
  • Refer to Scope of Practice Document and Clinical Responsibilities Checklist for specific requirements of role.

Computer Competency

  • Basic use of a computer (mouse, keyboard, printer, USB ports).
  • Basic use of Microsoft Office (Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and Skype).
  • Web browsing, intranet search, document access.
  • Use of shared network file space.

Basic use of patient facing technology. (e. g. IV pumps, point of care devices, CR monitors).

Navigation and use of clinical communication systems.

Information Literacy

  • Determines the nature and extent of clinical information needed and uses the appropriate technology to access it.
  • Accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.
  • Evaluates information and its sources critically and appropriately incorporates it into clinical practice.
  • Evaluates outcomes of the use of information.

Information Management Literacy

  • Navigation of the electronic health record system.
  • Ability to locate and review specific patient data in various clinical information systems.
  • Effectively uses clinical decision support tools.
  • Understands policies and procedures, confidentiality, security, and privacy regulations regarding the use of clinical information systems.
  • Ability to collect clinical data using quality improvement tools.
  • Licenses and Certifications
  • Prescriptive Authority - Pennsylvania State Licensing Board – Required within 3 months of hire

Specialty Certification - in area of education/subspecialty. Required certification must match scope of practice for that practice area. Required upon hire

  • Registered Nurse - Pennsylvania State Licensing Board – Required upon hire
  • Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner (CRNP) - Pennsylvania State Licensing Board – Required upon hire
  • OR
  • Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C) - Pennsylvania State Licensing Board – Required upon hire

Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C) - National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants – Required upon hire

To carry out its mission, CHOP is committed to supporting the health of our patients, families, workforce, and global community. As a condition of employment, professionals working onsite—at any CHOP location, for any portion of time—must be vaccinated for COVID-19. Learn more.

CHOP also requires employees who work in patient care buildings to receive an annual influenza vaccine. Employees may request exemptions for valid religious and medical reasons. Start dates may be delayed until candidates are immunized or exemption requests are reviewed.

EEO / VEVRAA Federal Contractor | Tobacco Statement

Salary Range

$117,900.00 - $156,300.00 Annually

Salary ranges are shown for full-time jobs. If you're working part-time, your pay will be adjusted accordingly.

This job is eligible for an incentive program.

At CHOP, we are committed to fair and transparent pay practices. Factors such as skills and experience could result in an offer above the salary range noted in this job posting. Click here for more information regarding CHOP's Compensation and Benefits.

Key Responsibilities

The Nocturnist provides high-acuity cardiac critical care during overnight hours, managing complex postoperative and critically ill pediatric patients. This role involves performing therapeutic interventions, ensuring continuity of care, and providing leadership within the interdisciplinary team.

Requirements

Candidates must hold a Master's degree in Nursing or Physician Assistant studies and possess at least one year of relevant clinical experience. Required certifications include PA-C or CRNP, along with active Pennsylvania state licensure.

Qualifications

Education
Master's degree (postgraduate degree)
Experience
2+ years of experience

Key Skills

Patient assessmentClinical leadershipInterdisciplinary collaborationClinical documentationPostoperative managementPediatric cardiologyConsultationMentorship

Hospital Medicine — Physician Assistant Career Context

Of the 46 active Physician Assistant listings this role was benchmarked against, 2% are remote, 87% have no call, 78% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for Pennsylvania is 97.6 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$137k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $140k in an average-cost state. 61.7% of Pennsylvania clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Top Physician Assistant Jobs

28 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution28 jobs · 16 employers

7
<$125k
9
$125k-150k
5
$150k-175k
5
$175k-200k
2
$200k+

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks25 jobs · 16 employers

CME allowance
76%
Sign-on bonus
72% this job
401k / retirement match
68%
Loan repayment
8%
Relocation assistance
8%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

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Work-life snapshot

median 1.5this job 1.5
Better work-life than 50% of Hospital Medicine (PA) listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 98 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

Living in Philadelphia

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$204k≈ 1.7× annual pay
Typical market rent
$1,768/mo≈ 18% of gross pay
Residents’ average commute
32 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
102.6
State income tax
Up to 3.1%
Sources & methodology

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

BEA 2024 · Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

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

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia logo

About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Hospitals and Health Care
Philadelphia, PA
10,000+ employees

Benefits & Perks

$25,000 annual nocturnist differential
$20,000 sign-on bonus for experienced APPs
Incentive program eligible