Nurse Practitioner

The Nurse Practitioner (NP) for the Pediatric Chronic Pain Program at McMaster Children’s Hospital will provide leadership and promote excellence in pediatric family centred nursing care through expert clinical practice, education, consultation and research. The NP will work in partnership with the Physicians to deliver comprehensive patient care through the outpatient Pediatric Chronic Pain Program, as well as consultation for complex chronic pain inpatients at MCH.
In collaboration with the inter-professional team, and using a patient and family centred model of care, the NP is responsible to: apply advanced pediatric chronic pain management knowledge, expertise and decision-making skills in health assessment, diagnosis, therapeutics, and health care management of the child in the ambulatory setting; provide direct patient care, coordination of care; manage the referral triage process, provide education and collaborate with community partners; tutor and mentor appropriate variety of learners, participate in continuing education activities to integrate the role of the NP in the program and academic settings; initiate, participate and lead program development, presentations, evaluations, research initiatives and other system changes to continue the enhancement of the inter-professional care team and program. The NP will work in partnership with physicians, consultants, and other members of the inter-professional health care team to provide comprehensive medical assessment, management and education. The NP reports to the Director, Child and Youth Mental Health, McMaster Children's Hospital, and the Interprofessional Chief of Practice..

1. Current Certificate of Registration in the College of Nurses of Ontario as a Registered Nurse Extended Class RN(EC), (eligible to write the registration exam would be considered) 
2. Completion of a Master’s Degree in Nursing, with an Advances Practice Nurse Certificate in Pediatrics (NP-Pediatrics) or Primary Health Care (NP-Primary Health Care) 
3. Recent (3 years) clinical experience with pediatric chronic pain and mental health 
4. Experience in developing, implementing and evaluating nursing practice tools in an ambulatory setting and primary care framework 
5. Expertise in developing strategies to build capacity and improve pediatric chronic disease self-management outcomes 
6. Proficiency in performing history and examination of the child and adolescent 
7. Knowledge and assessment of developmental milestones at all stages of pediatric development including the unique aspects of adolescent development. 
8. Experience and ability to lead and facilitate the development and implementation of basic and advanced education programs for patients, families, staff, and other health professionals 
9. Experience in the development and maintenance of medical directives 
10. Demonstrated skills and experience in program development and evaluation 
11. Demonstrated ability for independent action, initiative, problem solving, critical thinking, organization and prioritization 
12. Demonstrated mastery of effective communication with patients and coworkers, both written and verbal 
13. Demonstrated ability to work in a consultative role with the members of the inter-professional team 
14. Demonstrated ability to be flexible and adapt positively to constantly changing clinical situations 
15. Demonstrated ability to provide culturally-sensitive services 
16. Demonstrated ability to utilize information technology 
17. Committed to acquire new knowledge and ensure competency 
18. Able to handle significant daily psychological and emotional stress in dealing with parents of chronically ill children 
19. Eligible for cross appointment with McMaster University School of Nursing at the undergraduate and graduate level