Advanced Practice - Thoracic Surgery - NP or Physician Assistant - Night Shift

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Organization

VUH Advanced Practice Provider

Job Summary

The Advanced Practice Provider (APP) is a key member of the multidisciplinary healthcare team, collaborating closely with physicians and other care providers to manage a distinct patient population in the inpatient acute care setting.

Working with hospitalized patients, the APP provides specialized care and supports the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based medical services.

This role requires a strong foundation in evidence-based practice and clinical education, with the APP responsible for adhering to established clinical pathways and protocols to ensure safe and effective patient care.

The APP will demonstrate advanced medical knowledge, clinical and technical competence, sound clinical judgment, and professional communication skills.

In addition, the APP is accountable for timely and compliant documentation and actively participates in professional development and competency validation to maintain high standards of care..

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) Department of Thoracic Surgery focuses on non-cardiac chest surgery, lung transplantation, and complex oncologic care.

Conditions Treated in the Department of Thoracic Surgery

• Lung cancer, pulmonary nodules, and metastases.
• Esophageal cancer, achalasia, and reflux/hernia repairs.
• Pleural and mediastinal diseases (including mesothelioma and thymomas).

Tracheal disorders and chest wall tumors/deformities (e. g., Nuss/Ravitch procedures for pectus excavatum).

End-stage lung disease, lung transplantation, and ECMO management

Job duties for the Advanced Practice Provider role generally involve rounding, calls from the floor regarding patients, admissions/discharge, pulling chest tubes, and more. This is not an OR position, but is a role caring for inpatient thoracic surgery patients.

Shift

• Night shift role - 13-hour shifts - typically 3 shifts per week

Working as an Advanced Practice Provider (APP)—either an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner or a Physician Assistant—in the Thoracic Surgery division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) offers several distinct personal and professional advantages:

High Autonomy and Top-of-License Practice

VUMC has a well-established Advanced Practice Culture where APPs are deeply integrated into the medical team. Attending surgeons heavily rely on APPs to run inpatient rounds, evaluate postoperative patients in the PACU, manage complex high-acuity surgical cases, and handle consultations. APPs consistently are practicing at the absolute top of their license with strong professional respect from attending physicians.

Because VUMC houses the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and operates one of the busiest lung transplant programs in the world, thoracic surgery APPs manage incredibly unique pathologies.

Qualifications

• Critical care background highly preferred
• Master's or Doctorate degree in nursing or physician assistant studies
• National Board Certification as an Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP), Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP), or Physician Assistant (PA)
• TN License/Certificate of Fitness to Prescribe, eligible for NPI and DEA

Key Responsibilities

Obtains and documents a health history; performs and documents complete, system-focused, or symptom-specific physical examination, assessment and plan of care.

In collaboration, provides healthcare services for primary, acute and complex care of patients and manages patients’ overall care, identifying expected outcomes for diagnoses.

Orders, performs, interprets and collects data using appropriate assessment techniques, relevant supporting diagnostic information and diagnostic procedures where indicated.

• Forms differential diagnoses and treats acute and chronic conditions.
• Prescribes therapeutic interventions both pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic and surgical, needed to achieve expected outcomes.
• Utilizes evidence-based, approved practice protocols in planning and implementing care.

Initiates Appropriate Referrals and Consultations

• Provides specialty specific consultation services upon request and within a specialty scope of practice.
• Facilitates the patient’s transition between and within health care settings, such as admitting, transferring, and discharging patients.
• The responsibilities listed are a general overview of the position and additional duties may be assigned.

Technical Capabilities

Health Systems and Policy Management (Advanced): Demonstrates sufficient fundamental proficiency in behaviors that reflect a commitment to continuous professional development, ethical practice, an understanding and a responsible attitude toward their patients, their profession and society. Participates in professional organizations and activities that influence advanced practice.

Patient and Family Centered Care (Advanced): Demonstrates care that is compassionate, appropriate and effective for the promotion of health, prevention of illness, treatment of disease and care at the end of life. Within scope of licensure and certification, manages previously diagnosed and undiagnosed patients.

Uses health assessment skills to differentiate between normal, variations of normal, and abnormal findings. Employes screening and diagnostic strategies in the development of diagnoses. Prescribes medications within scope of practice.

Manages health/illness status of patients and families over time and across the continuum. Provides patient/centered care recognizing the patient or designee as a full partner in decision making.

Creates a climate of patient/centered care to include confidentiality privacy, comfort emotional support, mutual trust, and respect. Incorporates cultural and spiritual preferences, values and beliefs into health care.

Preserves the patient’s control over decision making by negotiating a mutually acceptable plan of care. Integrates ethical principles into decision making. Uses electronic health record to capture data on variables for the evaluation and management of patient care. Clearly documents findings, assessment and plan of care.

Clinical Knowledge and Practice (Advanced): Demonstrates established and evolving biomedical, clinical and social sciences, and the application of their knowledge to patient care and the education of others. Demonstrates knowledge of population focus but also other sciences that support his/her field of practice.

Demonstrates knowledge of common and important health issues affecting society and other societies around the globe. Demonstrates commitment in maintaining current evidence-based knowledge through continuous learning.

Educates patients, families, students and other members of the healthcare team in clinical topics and application of clinical knowledge.

Practice-Based Scholarly Inquiry and Integration (Advanced): Demonstrates the use of scientific evidence and methods to investigate, evaluate and improve patient care practices. Anticipates variations in practice and is proactive in implementing interventions to improve quality.

Uses best available evidence to continuously improve quality of clinical practice. Generates knowledge from clinical practice to improve practice and patient outcomes. Reviews data and evidence to improve advanced practice. Integrates knowledge from the humanities and sciences within the context of nursing science.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills (Advanced): Demonstrates interpersonal and communication skills that enable them to establish and maintain professional relationships with patients, families, and other members of health care teams. Communicates practice knowledge effectively both orally and in writing.

Professionalism (Advanced): Demonstrates behaviors that reflect a commitment to continuous professional development, ethical practice, and a responsible attitude toward their patients, their profession and society. Participates in medical center committees, professional organizations and activities that influence advanced practice.

Our Nursing Philosophy

We believe highly skilled and specialized nursing care is essential to Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s mission of quality in patient care, education and research. We believe nursing is an applied art and science focused on helping people, families and communities reach excellent health and well-being.

As a Vanderbilt University Medical Center employee, you make a difference to our patients and their families by bringing compassion and care to those in need of hope and healing. Please see our current employee benefits offered:

• Affordable High Quality Health Plan Options
• Dental and /or vision plan
• 403 (b) retirement plan
• Paid Time off (flex PTO)
• Tuition Reimbursement and adoption assistance (maximums applied)
• Short-Long term disability

Subsidized Backup Childcare

And many more... Ask us about our current inpatient nursing supplemental Pay Program!

Achieve the Remarkable

Learn more about VUMC Nursing here.

Core Accountabilities

Organizational Impact: Executes job responsibilities with the understanding of how output would affect and impact other areas related to own job area/team with occasional guidance. Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Analyzes moderately complex problems using technical experience and judgment. Breadth of Knowledge: Has expand