Job Summary:
Diagnose and treat acute, episodic, or chronic illness, independently or as part of a healthcare team. May focus on health promotion and disease prevention. May order, perform, or interpret diagnostic tests such as lab work and x rays. May prescribe medication. Must be a registered nurse who has specialized graduate education.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities and Expectations:
- Analyze and interpret patients' histories, symptoms, physical findings, or diagnostic information to develop appropriate diagnoses.
- Diagnose or treat acute health care problems, such as illnesses, infections, or injuries.
- Recommend diagnostic or therapeutic interventions with attention to safety, cost, invasiveness, simplicity, acceptability, adherence, and efficacy.
- Prescribe medications based on efficacy, safety, and cost as legally authorized.
- Educate patients about self-management of acute or chronic illnesses, tailoring instructions to patients' individual circumstances.
- Prescribe medication dosages, routes, and frequencies, based on such patient characteristics as age and gender.
- Order, perform, or interpret the results of diagnostic tests, such as complete blood counts (CBCs), electrocardiograms (EKGs), and radiographs (x-rays).
- Maintain complete and detailed records of patients' health care plans and prognoses.
- Recommend interventions to modify behavior associated with health risks.
- Develop treatment plans, based on scientific rationale, standards of care, and professional practice guidelines.
- Detect and respond to adverse drug reactions, with special attention to vulnerable populations such as infants, children, pregnant and lactating women, or older adults.
- Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in nursing.
- Counsel patients about drug regimens and possible side effects or interactions with other substances, such as food supplements, over-the-counter (OTC) medications, or herbal remedies.
- Diagnose or treat chronic health care problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
- Provide patients with information needed to promote health, reduce risk factors, or prevent disease or disability.
- Treat or refer patients for primary care conditions, such as headaches, hypertension, urinary tract infections, upper respiratory infections, and dermatological conditions.
- Consult with, or refer patients to, appropriate specialists when conditions exceed the scope of practice or expertise.
- Diagnose or treat complex, unstable, comorbid, episodic, or emergency conditions in collaboration with other health care providers as necessary.
- Schedule follow-up visits to monitor patients or evaluate health or illness care.
- Perform routine or annual physical examinations.
- Supervise or coordinate patient care or support staff activities.
- Maintain current knowledge of state legal regulations for nurse practitioner practice, including reimbursement of services.
- Provide patients or caregivers with assistance in locating health care resources.
- Maintain departmental policies and procedures in areas such as safety and infection control.
- Perform primary care procedures such as suturing, splinting, administering immunizations, taking cultures, and debriding wounds.
- Advocate for accessible health care that minimizes environmental health risks.
- Keep abreast of regulatory processes and payer systems, such as Medicare, Medicaid, managed care, and private sources.
- Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form
Supervisory Duties:
Serves as back-up for Physician Assistant (PA) who directly supervises the Clinic Nurse (RN) and the LPN; since the PA is not on-site full time, this position serves as the supervisor for this staff on opposite days when the PA is out of the clinic.
- Responsible for the overall direction, coordination, and evaluation of subordinates.
- Plans and directs work, ensuring that work schedules are adhered to and assigning specific duties to subordinate staff.
- Assists PA with interviewing, hiring, onboarding and training relevant clinic staff positions.
- Assists PA with staff evaluations, job performance management (including coaching/counseling), and corrective action.
- Helps to ensure appropriate staff training and education programs are provided.
- Participate in clinic staff meetings, and leads meetings in the absence of the PA.
- Demonstrates effective management of a team toward achievement of goals, including appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.
Minimum Qualifications (Experience/Education):
A Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)or a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree plus a minimum of five (5) years’ of relevant work experience within a healthcare setting is required; or an equivalent combination of education and experience to fully meet the requirements of the position.
Must meet state licensing requirements and pass a national certification exam in their specialty.
Competencies or Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA’s):
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing patient services. This includes patient needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of patient satisfaction.
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions.
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Skill in understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Skill in using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Skill in identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Physical Demands & Working Conditions:
- Work is primarily in a small healthcare clinic environment.
- Frequently sit, with continuous full use of hands, repetitive movement, keyboarding, and clear vision, as well as speak and hear normal conversation.
- Requires high attention to detail with frequent deadlines, and internal and external social interaction.
- This position requires regular periods of walking, standing, stooping, bending, kneeling, squatting, reaching overhead, pulling, and pushing.
- Frequent lifting up to 10 pounds and occasional lifting over 50 pounds is required.
- The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to wear protective clothing in isolation situations or operative/invasive procedures.