Position highlights

UW Health Northern Illinois seeks an Advanced Practice Provider (APRN or PA-C) to join our pediatric surgery team in Rockford, Ill. We are looking for a dedicated candidate to provide our patients with high-quality treatment and embody our mission:

“Through excellence in health care and compassionate service, we care for our community.”

As an Advanced Practice Provider, you’ll play an integral role in our inpatient and ambulatory care teams by providing high-quality, cost-effective care to patients. 

We are seeking a Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant to:

• Work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary health team to provide comprehensive care to pediatric general surgery in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. 
• Round on all pediatric inpatient units, cover consults and work in the clinic settings. 
• Perform routine clinical procedures independently as outlined in practice agreements/scope of practice. 

Your clinical support includes the following:

Inpatient

• Daily rounds on pediatric general surgery patients in the NICU and on the General Pediatric Unit with or without the attending surgeon, and additional rounds throughout the day to ensure patient/family needs are met and plans of care are progressing (communicate with attending surgeon re: any significant patient status updates and new consults).
• Communicate and coordinate care with teams throughout UWNI, including attending NICU and Pediatric Hospitalists
• First-assist attending surgeon in the operating room
• Write discharge orders an discharge instructions for patient who undergo day surgery
• Communicate recommendations from the attending surgeon to other teams (NICU, Pediatric Hospital Medicine, etc.) regarding medications, labs, diagnostic studies, etc.
• Responsible for the prompt response of first call pages from inpatient floors and NICU
• Work up new consults from the inpatient floors and ED, document consult notes and staff with attending surgeon as appropriate
• Documentation of daily progress notes
• Coordinate and document discharge instructions and follow-up for patients who were cared for by the pediatric surgery team
• Procedures including: chest tube removal, drain removal, g-tube/j-tube/cecostomy tube changes, suction rectal biopsy, VAC dressing changes, etc. (some surgery APPs also do removal of tunneled CVLs, PICC line placement)
• Management of wounds, g-tubes and ostomies on pediatric surgery patients throughout UWNI
• Patient/family education
• Care conference coordination
• Provide oversight/guidance and education regarding care of the pediatric surgery patient to medical students on service 
• Ongoing education of pediatric nursing staff regarding the pediatric surgery population 
• Provide continuity of care for pediatric surgery patients
• Create and update order sets, contribute to protocol/guideline development as it pertains to pediatric surgical patient care
• Assist as needed in clinical research studies and quality improvement projects

Outpatient

• See new consults, follow-up patients and post-op patients in scheduled clinic templates
• See same-day (off-template) urgent add-on patients
• Perform pre-op H&Ps and pre-op education
• Assist RN as needed with triage and management of outpatient calls from patients/families, including in-basket and MyChart message management
• In-clinic (or sedation clinic) procedures including: Drain removal, g-tube, j-tube, cecostomy tube changes, rectal suction biopsy, wound care including VAC dressing changes, ostomy cares, suture/staple removal, etc.
• Order and interpret laboratory and diagnostic studies as appropriate
• Prescribe medication and therapies as appropriate
• Care coordination
• Enter pre-op orders for upcoming surgical cases
• Assist with entering orders and communicating with surgery scheduler to get cases scheduled
• Provide continuity of care for pediatric surgery/trauma patients

The outpatient responsibilities will involve pediatric surgery and basic non-complex pediatric urology care, including:

• See NEW consults, follow up patients, and post op patients in scheduled clinic templates
• See same day (off-template) urgent add-on patients
• Perform pre-op H&Ps and pre-op education
• Assist RN as needed with triage and management of outpatient calls from patients/families including in-basket and my-chart message management
• In clinic (or sedation clinic) procedures including: drain removal, g-tube, j-tube, cecostomy tube changes, urinary catheter/stent removal, rectal suction biopsy, wound care including VAC dressing changes, ostomy cares, suture/staple removal, etc.
• Order and interpret laboratory and diagnostic studies as appropriate
• Prescribe medication and therapies as appropriate
• Care coordination
• Enter pre-op orders for upcoming surgical cases
• Assist with entering orders and communicating with surgery scheduler to get cases scheduled
• Provide continuity of care for pediatric general and urologic patients

Qualifications

• Master’s degree from accredited PA program or completion of a master’s level advanced practice nurse program with a first assist.
• Active PA/NP license in the State of Illinois and Active DEA license or ability to apply for such license prior to or upon hire.

Support and benefits

As a UW Health Northern Illinois Advanced Practice Provider, you will join our team of 120 APPs who enjoy the following support and benefits:

• Transformation Nursing Leadership with Magnet Recognition, Shared Governance and Professional Practice Models and Full Practice Authority Committee
• Professional Nurse Internship and Ambulatory Nurse Residency Programs
• Highly competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Comprehensive family-friendly benefits, including health, dental, vision, and life insurance, onsite childcare and sick childcare, generous vacation, and retirement program.

Contact information

For more information on how you can advance your career with UW Health Northern Illinois, or to submit your CV and cover letter for consideration, please contact Abbe Castrogiovanni at acastrogiovanni@uwhealth.org or call 779-696-7193.