Pediatric Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant - Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

Discover Vanderbilt Health: With eight hospitals and over 180 clinics, we are the region’s largest comprehensive academic health system. Vanderbilt Health has a long tradition of providing world-class care to the people of the Mid-South, living out our mission of moving medicine forward through preeminent programs in patient care, education and research. Here you’ll find a spirit of collaboration and a supportive community where your expertise is valued, your knowledge expanded and your uniqueness celebrated. We are committed to fostering an environment where talented, compassionate people are united in bringing the most advanced care to our neighbors throughout the region.

Organization:

PCICU

Job Summary:

Join One of the Nation’s Leading Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Teams

Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt is seeking Advanced Practice Providers (Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants) to join our highly specialized Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (PCICU) team.

Our PCICU cares for infants, children, and adolescents with some of the most complex congenital and acquired heart conditions. As an APP, you'll work alongside pediatric cardiac intensivists, congenital heart surgeons, cardiologists, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, and other multidisciplinary team members to deliver exceptional care in a collaborative and supportive environment.

This is an exciting opportunity to practice in a high-acuity setting while developing expertise in advanced pediatric cardiac critical care, including ECMO, ventricular assist devices (VADs), heart transplantation, and complex postoperative cardiac surgical care.

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About the PCICU

The Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit provides comprehensive care for critically ill children with congenital and acquired heart disease, including:

• Preoperative and postoperative congenital heart surgery
• Complex cardiac medical management
• ECMO and ventricular assist device (VAD) support
• Heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support
• Multidisciplinary cardiac critical care

Why APPs Thrive Here

Our APPs are supported by a highly collaborative team that is deeply committed to clinical excellence, education, and professional growth.

Benefits of joining our team include:

• In-house overnight support from pediatric cardiac intensivists and fellows
• A collaborative multidisciplinary practice environment
• Exposure to advanced therapies, including ECMO, VADs, heart transplantation, and complex congenital heart disease management
• Opportunities for professional growth, leadership development, and continuing education
• Participation in research and quality improvement initiatives
• A structured six-month mentorship and onboarding program for new graduate APPs
• Relocation assistance available for candidates relocating more than 100 miles from Nashville

Whether you're an experienced APP looking to expand your expertise in pediatric cardiac critical care or a new graduate seeking a strong mentorship experience, Vanderbilt offers the support, education, and clinical exposure to help you build a rewarding career.

Why Vanderbilt?

Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt is consistently recognized as one of the nation's leading children's hospitals and serves as a regional referral center for complex pediatric cardiac care. In 2026, the hospital was recognized among the nation's Best Children's Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for the 20th consecutive year and was once again ranked as the No. 1 children's hospital in Tennessee, with national recognition in nine pediatric specialties, including Cardiology & Heart Surgery.

The Pediatric Heart Institute is also entering an exciting new era of growth and innovation following a transformational $40 million philanthropic investment from Tom Golisano. This investment will advance pediatric heart care, transplantation, research, and collaboration across a national network of leading children's hospitals through the Golisano Children's Alliance.

Located in the heart of Nashville, Vanderbilt offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on patients and families while working alongside some of the nation's leading experts in pediatric cardiac care.

Position Hours:

• Full-Time
• Nights - Possibility for Flex
• 3 Shifts Per Week
  

Requirements:

• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner - Acute Care (CPNP-AC) or Physician Assistant
• Prior APP Experience Preferred

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 for 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 expanded knowledge gained through experience within a professional area. Team Interaction: Provides informal guidance and support to team members.

Core Capabilities :

Supporting Colleagues:- Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance e and gain knowledge in new areas.- Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships.- Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences. Delivering Excellent Services:- Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them.- Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions.- Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness. Ensuring High Quality: - Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly.- Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure.- Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area.- Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities. Fostering Innovation:- Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches.- Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short-term challenges.- Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

LIC-Licensed Nurse Practitioner - Tennessee, LIC-Physician's Assistant Certified - Tennessee, LIC-Registered Nurse - Tennessee

Work Experience:

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level:

Less than 1 year

Education:

Master's

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within Vanderbilt Health, supported by a comprehensive benefits package which may include health, disability, retirement and/or wellness offerings to enhance your well-being and professional growth.

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity.  EOE/Vets/Disabled.