Nurse Practitioner - Pediatric Infectious Disease

Step into a job that opens countless doors. As one of Canada’s largest and most diverse hospitals, we’re providing advanced care to people of all ages from across the province. You can explore advancement opportunities, take professional development courses, and stretch yourself as a leader, all at HHS.  We are the largest employer in the greater Hamilton region, and play a vital role in training the next generation of health professionals in collaboration with our academic partners, including McMaster University and Mohawk College. Hamilton Health Sciences is a hospital system of 15,000 staff, physicians, researchers and volunteers that proudly serves south central Ontario residents. We also provide specialized, advanced care to people from across the province.

The McMaster University Medical Centre site of Hamilton Health Sciences is home to McMaster Children’s Hospital, which provides care to children aged 0-18 years and serves a population of 2.3million Canadians.  Within the ambulatory programs, the infectious disease program is implementing the expansion of the infant hearing screening throughout 2019 – 2020. 

Through the support of the Neonatal Screening Ontario and the Ontario Infant Hearing Program the Infectious Disease Program will be screening infants for hearing loss risk factors focusing on testing for cytomegalovirus (CMV) and mutation testing of selected genes associated with early onset permanent hearing loss. 

The Nurse Practitioner (NP) will coordinate care for all infants identified in our region who have screened positive for congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) on the dried blood spot with Newborn Screening Ontario. This individual will be responsible for contacting the family or their primary care provider to inform them of the screen positive result and will refer infants to community pediatrician for initial evaluation. The individual is responsible for ensuring symptomatic infants are urgently referred to the McMaster Pediatric Infectious Diseases clinic, where the NP will assess, diagnose and treat as needed in close collaboration with the Infectious Diseases specialists. The individual is also responsible for collecting results on all asymptomatic infants, maintaining Newborn Screening Ontario documentation, and ensuring ongoing follow up for all screen positive infants. The NP will serve as a key resource and point of contact for community pediatricians and other regional program partners.

 The NP will also provide advanced nursing care to meet the needs of the outpatient Pediatric Infectious Diseases clinic at McMaster Children’s Hospital. This will include assessment, evaluation, diagnosis and treatment management of acute and chronic pediatric infections in close collaboration and consultation with the Infectious Diseases specialists. The individual will actively participate in promoting and providing quality, family-centred care in the outpatient clinic setting.

 The NP will be expected to:

• Review and revise Newborn Screening Ontario medical directives for retrieval, evaluation and treatment of cCMV screen positive infants
• Perform retrieval for cCMV screen positive infants (i.e. contacting the family to inform them of the screen positive result, prognosis and plan)
• Refer all cCMV screen positive infants to community partners for initial evaluation and ensure timely and comprehensive care is being provided
• Collect and interpret initial evaluation results for all infants, expediting referral to Pediatric Infectious Diseases for symptomatic infants
• Provide advanced nursing care to infants who are symptomatic of cCMV in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Clinic in close collaboration with the Infectious Diseases specialists
• Act as a key resource and point of contact for community pediatricians, audiologists, family physicians, midwives and families
• Complete required documentation for Newborn Screening Ontario and McMaster Children’s Hospital
• Provide advanced nursing care (assessment, evaluation, diagnosis and therapeutic management considerations) in the outpatient Pediatric Infectious Diseases clinic to a wide variety of patients with acute and chronic pediatric infections
• Maintain and coordinate continuity of care for patients in the outpatient Pediatric Infectious Diseases clinic

• Current Registration with the College of Nurses of Ontario as a Registered Nurse in the Extended Class – RN (EC).
• Completion of a Master’s Degree in Nursing, with an Advanced Practice Nurse Certificate in Pediatrics (NP-Pediatrics)
• Membership in the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) and other professional organizations relevant to the role
• Minimum of (4) years recent pediatric nursing experience
• Minimum of (3) years recent acute/primary clinical experience in pediatrics
• Knowledge and experience in change theory and pediatric learning principles
• Certification in Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS preferred)
• Proficiency in performing history and examination of the infant, toddler, child, and adolescent
• Knowledge and assessment of developmental milestones at all stages of pediatric development and ability to access appropriate community or hospital-based resources in setting of developmental delays
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of health professional resources, community services, and resources relating to the pediatric population
• Experience in the development and maintenance of medical directives
• Demonstrated ability for independent action, initiative, problem solving, organization, and prioritization
• Demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal
• Demonstrated ability to work in a consultative role with the members of the multidisciplinary team
• Demonstrated ability to utilize information technology
• Ability to deliver culturally sensitive care, recognize and celebrate diversity, navigate complex situations, and advocate for children and families
• Ability to act as a leader, teacher, mentor, and change agent for the interprofessional health team both within the institution and in the community
• Able to effectively lead program design and evaluation, including identification and measurement of outcome indicators
• Commitment to ongoing professional development
• Eligible for cross appointment with McMaster University School of Nursing at the undergraduate and graduate level
• Current ability to travel in Southwestern Ontario/own transportation

Hamilton Health Sciences fosters a culture of patient and staff safety, whereby all employees are guided by our Mission, Vision, Values, and Values Based Code of Conduct. Hamilton Health Sciences is a teaching hospital and all staff and physicians are expected to support students and other learners.

To be considered for this opportunity applicants must apply during the posting period. All internal and external applicants may ONLY apply via the Careers website.

Hamilton Health Sciences is an equal opportunity employer and we will accommodate any needs under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the Ontario Human Rights Code. Hiring processes will be modified to remove barriers to accommodate those with disabilities, if requested. Should any applicant require accommodation through the application processes, please contact HR Operations at 905-521-2100, Ext. 46947 for assistance. If the applicant requires a specific accommodation because of a disability during an interview, the applicant will need to advise the hiring manager when scheduling the interview and the appropriate accommodations can be made.

 This competition is open to all qualified applicants, however, qualified internal applicants will be considered first. Past performance will be considered as part of the selection process. If you are a previous employee of Hamilton Health Sciences, please note\: the circumstances around an employee's exit will be considered prior to an offer of employment. Proficiency in both Official Languages, French and English, is considered an asset.

If this position is temporary, selection for this position will be as per the outlined Collective Agreements:

Article 30 (k), CUPE Collective Agreement

Article 10.7 (d), ONA Collective Agreement

Article 13.01 (b) (ii), OPSEU 273 Collective Agreement

Article 14.04, OPSEU 209 Collective Agreement

Article 2.07 and Article 13, PIPSC RT Collective Agreement

Days - Monday to Friday. 

This position is temporary until January 2027.