NURSE PRACTITIONER- RURAL CANCER CARE

JOB SUMMARY: The Nurse Practitioner (NP) serves as a primary clinical provider for FPHC’s Rural Cancer Care Program under the Alabama Rural Health Transformation Grant. Operating within an integrated Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) care model, the NP delivers direct, autonomous clinical services focusing on early cancer detection, preventive screenings, diagnostic evaluations, chronic disease management, and survivorship management in rural, medically underserved communities. This role combines high-volume screening execution with clinical panel management and peer consultation to close quality care gaps, manage complex comorbidities, and improve regional cancer health equity.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Clinical Screening & Diagnostics: Conduct independent clinical evaluations, clinical breast exams, cervical cancer screenings (Pap/HPV testing), prostate exams, skin cancer assessments, and colorectal risk evaluations across rural clinic sites.
• Chronic Disease Management & Risk Mitigation: Evaluate, diagnose, and manage co-occurring chronic conditions (e.g., hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidemia, and COPD) that impact cancer risk, diagnostic workups, and treatment tolerance; optimize pharmacological regimens and lifestyle interventions to improve overall patient health outcomes.
• Diagnostic & Treatment Management: Order and interpret diagnostic imaging (mammograms, ultrasound, CT/MRI, PET scans), laboratory panels, and genetic risk profiles; formulate evidence-based treatment and diagnostic plans.
• Survivorship Care Planning: Develop and execute post-treatment cancer survivorship care plans, manage acute treatment side effects (pain management, neuropathy, toxicity), and coordinate ongoing monitoring alongside chronic care management.
• Care Coordination & Closed-Loop Referrals: Collaborate with regional tertiary oncology centers, chronic disease specialists, and multidisciplinary care networks to ensure seamless, closed-loop referral tracking for complex or confirmed cancer cases within established timelines.
• Quality Improvement & Compliance: Document clinical encounters in OCHIN Epic to meet HRSA UDS, HEDIS cancer screening, and chronic disease quality metrics; participate in continuous quality improvement (CQI) audits and NCQA PCMH care team huddles.
• Patient Education & Advocacy: Provide culturally competent counseling on cancer prevention, chronic disease self-management, lifestyle risk factors, family history, and tobacco cessation.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Remain abreast of current employee health practices and guidelines through continuing education classes, journals and professional organizations.
2. Attends continuing education related to infection control practices, monitoring and surveillance of infectious disease processes within an organization.
3. Maintains a professional approach with confidentiality.
4. Observes and supports Center policy.
5. Is prompt and efficient with minimal absences.
6. Carries out additional duties as assigned.

The preceding examples are representative of the assignments performed by this position and are not intended to be all-inclusive.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS: Performance will be evaluated by Chief Nurse Practitioner bi-annually wherein a satisfactory overall rating is considered as a minimum acceptable level of performance.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION REQUIREMENTS: Must provide the very best customer satisfaction to patients, visitors, and co-worker at all time in a professional and courteous manner. Provide assistance in resolving customers’ problems. Coordinate efforts and interfaces with other departments to resolve problems. Actively protects customer confidentiality. Actively keeps environment clean and safe with a professional and welcoming image. Always treats customers as welcome guests and provides a warm and sincere greeting. Consistently presents a professional appearance in dress and grooming by adherence to dress code policy. Effectively and regularly demonstrates the values of the organization. Effectively involves customers in decisions that affect them. Follow through in a timely manner of commitments made to customers. Take ownership of your attitude toward Service Excellence.

HEALTH AND SAFETY REQUIREMENTS: The health and safety requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

1. Must adhere to safety regulations, personnel policies and procedures.
2. Safety and Hazard Communication training update is required annually.
3. Knowledgeable of OSHA and CLIA requirements to assure compliance.
4. Maintain yearly health maintenance records by obtaining TB skin testing and completion of the hepatitis series.

PRIVACY RULE COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS:

1. Adheres to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA Privacy Rule) policies and procedures.
2. Must successfully complete Privacy Rule compliance training annually or as revisions are made to the policies and procedures.
3. Must comply with Privacy Rule guidelines by learning to protect FPHC patient’s medical privacy.
4. Must comply with Privacy Rule guidelines by appropriately maintaining our patient information in compliance with national standards.

5. Must comply with Privacy Rule guidelines by providing appropriate security of FPHC patient records.