About this Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant - Cardiology - Paducah, Kentucky role at Baptist Health
Summary
Job Description:
The Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) is responsible for providing advanced practice care to patients with heart failure and other complex cardiovascular conditions. This includes conducting comprehensive patient evaluations, developing and managing treatment plans, ordering and interpreting diagnostic testing, prescribing medications, and providing ongoing disease management. Care is delivered in a Hospital Outpatient Department (HOPD). The APRN exercises clinical autonomy in medical decision-making within the scope of the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure (KBML) collaborative agreement and organizational policies. He or she is a proficient user of all information systems involved in patient care, provides exceptional customer service to patients and colleagues, and maintains the highest standards of professionalism.
The individual may perform other duties, both major and minor, which are not listed below, and responsibilities may evolve over time based on the needs of the practice.
You will provide direct patient care to individuals with acute and chronic heart failure, cardiomyopathies, and other advanced cardiovascular conditions. Responsibilities include evaluating patient symptoms, performing comprehensive physical examinations, ordering and interpreting diagnostic studies, optimizing guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT), monitoring response to treatment, and developing individualized care plans. You will collaborate closely with heart failure cardiologists, electrophysiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, primary care providers, and other multidisciplinary team members to coordinate comprehensive patient care across the continuum. This role also includes patient education, medication management, coordination of outpatient and inpatient transitions of care, and helping reduce heart failure readmissions through proactive disease management. Participation in outreach, patient education initiatives, and occasional inpatient or weekend coverage may be required.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Facilitate new patient consultations and follow-up visits for patients with heart failure and advanced cardiovascular disease.
- Perform comprehensive history and physical examinations.
- Order, review, and interpret laboratory studies, imaging, electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, and other diagnostic testing as appropriate.
- Initiate, titrate, and optimize guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) for heart failure in accordance with current evidence-based guidelines.
- Monitor patients for disease progression, medication effectiveness, and adverse effects.
- Coordinate care with cardiologists, primary care providers, electrophysiology, cardiac surgery, pharmacy, home health, and other specialists.
- Educate patients and families regarding heart failure diagnosis, medications, diet, sodium and fluid restrictions, weight monitoring, symptom recognition, and self-management strategies.
- Coordinate transitions of care following hospitalization to reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes.
- Refer patients for advanced heart failure therapies, including mechanical circulatory support, structural heart evaluation, or heart transplant evaluation when appropriate.
- Participate in quality improvement initiatives focused on heart failure outcomes and patient education.
- Assist with inpatient consultation and weekend coverage as needed.
The following qualifications are the minimum requirements necessary to adequately perform this job.
- BSN required; MSN required.
- Successful completion of an accredited Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant program.
- National certification as an APRN.
- Current, valid, and unrestricted license to practice as an APRN in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
- DEA registration (or eligibility) and prescriptive authority as required.
- Current BLS and ACLS certification.
- Prior experience in cardiology or heart failure management preferred.
