Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant - Orthopedic Surgery (PM&R/Spine)

Position Summary

The Orthopedic Spine Nurse Practitioner (NP) or Physician Assistant (PA) at WashU Orthopedics is an integral clinical leader and valued member of the PM&R/Spine team managing non-operative spine patients.

This position practices primarily in the outpatient setting across our Sunset Hills and Missouri Baptist and South County locations in St. Louis.

This role requires strong leadership skills to inspire and support staff, along with the adaptability to navigate changing priorities, workflows, and clinical protocols while maintaining exceptional patient care.

The NP or PA will facilitate multidisciplinary care—with a focus on outstanding clinical outcomes, patient experience, and compassionate care. Success in this role requires collaboration, excellent communication, and the ability to build strong relationships with patients, families, physicians, and care teams.

At WashU Orthopedics, we are committed to treating every patient like family while delivering world-class orthopedic care to our community each day. If you are a dedicated Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant with a passion for teamwork, leadership, and quality care, we invite you to join our team.

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

• Provides direct patient care to include obtaining patient history, performing patient assessment via observation, interview and examination; orders, performs and interprets diagnostic studies; performs preventative health assessments, screenings, immunizations and care; provides direct treatment and management of acute and chronic disease conditions; develops and implements patient-centered plan of care in collaboration with physicians, patients, consultants, nurses, ancillary care providers and others as appropriate to the patient's condition.
• May bill for services covered by collaborative practice agreement.
• Provides counseling and education of patients and their families/caregivers concerning disease management, complication prevention, disease prevention, and quality of life improvement measures, and outcome management activities.
• Monitors/ensures accuracy of patient medical records; maintains all required reports, records, statistics, etc.
• Maintains a safe, comfortable and therapeutic environment for patients/families in accordance with established clinic/hospital standards.
• Manages health conditions via prescriptive authority or referral to other healthcare providers or community resources; may perform diagnostic or therapeutic interventions consistent with certification and state regulations.
• Champions the safety and quality of care for patients using ITB therapy and serves as an expert in the care and management of ITB pumps. Helps develop a detailed educational program for the patients and lead the quality and safety initiative for the program.
• Serves as clinical expert regarding rehabilitation nursing while demonstrating a high level of autonomy and expert skill in complex clinical nursing situations.
• Provides management services for clinical research study projects; monitors participating subjects, including medication administration and family/patient education.
• Works in accordance with established departmental policies and procedures, objectives, quality assurance programs, and safety, environmental and infection control standards.
• Regularly participates in constant quality improvement and process improvement activities centered on the goal of providing exceptional, evidence-based patient care.
• Enhances professional growth and development through educational programs, current literature, in-service meetings and workshops.
• Contributes to the advancement of the rehabilitation nursing profession as a whole through research, publications, and presentations.
• Performs other duties as assigned.