Advanced Practice Fellow - NICU

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

In-Patient Nrs Practnrs 30

Job Summary:

The Advanced Practice Fellow works in collaboration with and is an integral member of a interdisciplinary health care team. The Advanced Practice Fellow should have a basic foundation in evidence-based practice and demonstrate adequate medical and nursing knowledge, clinical/technical competence, sound clinical judgment, professional communication skills, timely and compliant documentation. The Advanced Practice Fellow may function in a variety of inpatient and outpatient care settings throughout the fellowship to optimize learning experiences.

Focused learning experiences will be provided that enable the Advanced Practice Fellow to develop and refine essential specialty specific clinical and critical thinking skills promoting top of license practice. Immersion into an environment of collaborative interdisciplinary care will assure cost effective, quality, patient centered care. Additionally, an expanded incorporation of evidenced-based practice into care and utilization of improvement processes will be demonstrated by completion of a specialty-relevant project.

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During the Neonatal APP Fellowship, the Advanced Practice Provider will complete courses through the Neonatal Program at the Vanderbilt School of Nursing, while they complete clinical hours in the NICU at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital. This Fellowship is a 13 month Fellowship that will begin on August 1, 2026.

Position Hours

• 12 Hour Shifts or 24 Hour Shifts

• Day/Night Shifts

Department Summary

In the NICU at the Monroe Carell Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt we are committed to providing the highest standard of care to our newborns and their families. Our state-of-the-art NICU is equipped with advanced technology and staffed by a compassionate team of experts who work tirelessly to ensure the best outcomes for our patients.  We are the largest unit within Vanderbilt University Hospital system with 116 beds, with an increase to 131 beds in Summer 2025.  We are a level IV tertiary care NICU that attends to the complex care needs of more than 1400 fragile newborns per year.

• Neonatal Nurse Practitioner NNP or Physician Assistant PA

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Assessment of Health Status:

• Performs and documents in the medical record a complete history and physical examination.

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

• Assesses for risks associated with care including: medication side effects, immobility, impaired nutrition, fluid and electrolyte imbalance, immunocompetence, invasive interventions and diagnostic procedures.

• Participates in daily huddles or rounds with the interdisciplinary team as applicable and actively collaborates in formulating and evaluating ongoing plan of care across the continuum.

• Diagnosis:

  • Collaborates with interdisciplinary health care team in making accurate and diagnoses of acute and complex chronic conditions.

  • Manages diagnostic tests through ordering, interpretation, performance, and supervision.

  • Formulates differential diagnoses by priority.

  • Diagnoses complications and identifies appropriate interventions.

Formulates Plan of Care:

• Identifies expected outcomes from diagnosis, formulates and documents a plan of care to address acute and complex, chronic health care needs.

• Utilizes evidenced-based practice guidelines or protocols in an individualized, dynamic plan of care that can be applied across the continuum.

Implements and modifies plan of care:

• Prescribes diagnostic strategies and therapeutic interventions both pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic and surgical (as needed) to achieve expected outcomes.

• Manages