STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
HUMAN RESOURCES


 

CLASSIFICATION:  NURSE PRACTITIONER

 

Class Code:  6550-28                                             Date Established:  09-12-78

 

Occupational Code:  7-4-9                                     Date of Last Revision:  01-25-10

 

BASIC PURPOSE:  To provide comprehensive diagnostic and restorative medical and psychotherapeutic services and examinations within a specific scope of practice to patients and/or residents, and to develop and implement individualized patient/resident care and treatment plans.

 

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

 

·           Performs comprehensive physical examinations, diagnostic tests, and psychological assessments, and obtains additional information from patients/residents, consultants, and private physicians, in order to arrive at a diagnosis and plan of care.

·           Orders, analyzes and interprets laboratory tests, X-rays, EKG’s, MRI’s, CT’s, and EMG’s, and prescribes, administers and modifies pharmacologic and psychopharmacologic medications and treatments according to established protocols and within the scope of practice.

·           Identifies, isolates, and treats patients/residents with reportable diseases and notifies proper public health care agencies.

·           Performs a variety of medical procedures, to include:  drawing blood; bladder scans; pulse oxymetry; starting IV’s; performing catheterizations; administering injections; applying casts for simple fractures; and performing minor surgery requiring suturing.

·           Coordinates the implementation of research protocols and gathers data for special studies approved by the Department.

·           Compiles, prepares and presents medical case histories and clinical summaries for review by medical staff, specialists, and other clinicians and participates in conferences for the discussion of the diagnosis, behavior and treatment of patients.

·           Coordinates emergency transfer of patients/residents to trauma center, discharge of patients, and aftercare with treatment teams, outside healthcare agencies, and caregivers.

·           Organizes, supervises and reviews the work of subordinate professional, para-professional and non-professional personnel engaged in patient/resident care and treatment.

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DISTINGUISHING FACTORS:

 

Skill:  Requires skill in analyzing and interpreting data, policy, and procedures OR in using equipment in order to arrive at logical conclusions or recommendations.

 

Knowledge:  Requires logical or scientific expertise to resolve problems of a specialized or professional nature in a wide range of applications.

 

Impact:  Requires responsibility for achieving major aspects of long-range agency objectives by planning short- and long-term organizational goals, reviewing recommendations for procedural changes, and developing or revising program policies.  Errors at this level result in incorrect decisions at an administrative level, and are detected subsequent to implementation in an overall evaluation process.

 

Supervision:  Requires direct supervision of programs or of employees doing work which differs from the supervisor, including disciplining employees, solving personnel problems, recommending hiring and firing employees, and developing work methods.  The supervisor in this position manages a working unit or section with responsibility for employee performance appraisal.

 

Working Conditions:  Requires performing regular job functions in an environment which includes exposure to continuous physical elements or a number of disagreeable working conditions with frequent exposure to minor injuries or health hazards.

 

Physical Demands:  Requires medium work, including continuous strenuous activities such as frequent reaching, bending, or lifting as well as performing work activities which require fine manual dexterity or coordination in operating machines or equipment.

 

 

Communication:  Requires reviewing summaries and reports and making decisions to solve problems or to achieve work objectives as well as articulating and expressing those solutions and goals.  This level also requires formal presentations of solutions and goals to employees and the general public to increase the responsiveness of the agency toward the demands of its client system.

 

Complexity:  Requires evaluating a combination of wide-ranging job functions to determine work procedures, to solve problems, and to reach conclusions by applying analytical, technical, or scientific thinking.  This level also requires planning policies and long-term strategies, drawing conclusions based on available criteria, and evaluating the effectiveness of program objectives.

 

Independent Action:  Requires independent judgment in planning and evaluating work procedures and in supervising the development of professional, technical and managerial standards under administrative direction and according to broad departmental guidelines.

 

 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

 

Education:  Master’s degree or its equivalent from a recognized college, institute or university with major study in nursing, and graduation from an advanced practice registered nurse program that meets qualifications established by the Board of Nursing Examiners for the specialty in which the Nurse Practitioner is to be employed.

 

Experience:  Five years' professional nursing experience in the field appropriate to the position for which recruitment is conducted.  Each additional year of approved work experience may be substituted for one year of required formal education.

 

License/Certification:  Advanced Practice Registered Nurse license issued by the New Hampshire Board of Nursing Education.  Current Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) certification.

 

RECOMMENDED WORK TRAITS:  Considerable knowledge of modern nursing theory and practice.  Knowledge of pharmacology, psychopharmacology, medical assessment, medical treatment and care, and the principles and practices of psychiatry.  Skill in determining the degree of illness and the level of wellness.  Skill in conducting psychiatric assessments and providing counseling.  Skill in determining procedures needed to assist the patient.  Ability to conduct and interpret a variety of laboratory, diagnostic and medical and tests and procedures.  Ability to function independently in the diagnosis and treatment of medical and psychiatric conditions and the prescription of medications.  Ability to coordinate the care, discharge and transfer of patients with representatives of other disciplines and private caregivers.  Ability to compile, interpret and report medical information.  Ability to instruct para-professional and other personnel in aspects of nursing.  Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with co-workers, all members of the health team and patients.  Must be willing to maintain appearance appropriate to assigned duties and responsibilities as determined by the agency appointing authority.

 

 

DISCLAIMER STATEMENT:  This class specification is descriptive of general duties and is not intended to list every specific function of this class title.

 

 


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