Graduate Nurse Practitioner - Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit (NSICU) – Nights

What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas’ resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care. That’s where you come in.

UTHealth Houston Neurosciences is offering a one-of-a-kind Graduate Nurse Practitioner (GNP) opportunity within its high-acuity Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit (NSICU). This transitional role is designed for recent graduates of an MSN or DNP program who have completed all academic and clinical requirements and are eligible to sit for board certification and licensure.

Selected candidates will enter a structured, full-time, benefits-eligible, six-month transitional position at UTHealth Houston before credentialing and full NP practice. The GNP role is non-billable, non-privileged, and non-prescriptive. Instead, GNPs will function similarly to nurse practitioner students working under direct supervision of credentialed, board-certified APPs. This immersive experience includes structured clinical rotations, board prep time, and didactic education to ensure a safe and confident transition to practice.

Upon completing the six-month GNP program, participants will transition into full-time, credentialed Nurse Practitioner roles within the UTHealth Neurosciences as a night APP, subject to board certification, state licensure, and successful credentialing.

Location: 6400 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas 77030

Key Responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team of physicians, APPs, nurses, and trainees in the NSICU.
• Function in a supervised training capacity under a UT-employed APP who will co-sign all clinical documentation.
• Manage critically ill patients with neurological and neurosurgical conditions, including traumatic brain injury, stroke, brain tumors, and post-op neurosurgical care.
• Participate in neurocritical care rounds, clinical education, and protocol-driven care delivery.
• Attend scheduled didactic sessions and dedicate protected time for board preparation and certification.
• Assist in clinical documentation, progress notes, order review, and multidisciplinary coordination while under direct supervision.
• Demonstrate professionalism, adaptability, and a commitment to high-quality, patient-centered care.
  
  

Training and Supervision

• The six-month transitional period includes:
• 2–4 months pre-licensure/certification, during which GNPs will function as advanced learners and licensed RNs under direct supervision.
• 2–4 months post-certification, pending hospital credentialing, continuing supervised clinical integration.
• All clinical activity is under the direct oversight of a UT-employed, credentialed APP, with no independent decision-making authority during this period.
• Supervision includes regular feedback, co-signature of all documentation, and continuous availability of the supervising APP.
  
  

Eligibility Criteria

• MSN or DNP graduate from an AG/ACNP program.
• Completion of all academic and clinical training requirements.
• Eligible to sit for national board certification and licensure as an AG/ACNP or equivalent.
• Current RN licensure in Texas.
• Commitment to pursuing board certification and state licensure within the first 2–4 months of hire.
• Strong interest in neurocritical care and desire to practice in a high-acuity, academic ICU setting.
  
  

Once you join us you won't want to leave. It’s because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you’d expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time – all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year)
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you’ll accrue!
• Longevity Pay (Monthly payments after two years of service)
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan!
  
  

We take care of our employees! As a world-renowned institution, our employees’ wellbeing is important to us. We offer work/life services such as...

• Free financial and legal counseling
• Free mental health counseling services
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs
• Other employee discounts including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc.
• Resources for child and elder care
• Plus many more!
  
  

Position Summary:

Provides health care in a clinical setting in an area of specialization under the direction of a physician. This position is designed for incumbents to serve as a Graduate Professional Nurse Practitioner pending certification in accordance with TAC 221.5. Use of this job code requires prior approval from CNO or COO of UT Physicians.

Position Key Accountabilities:

• Performs relevant patient assessments and physical examinations under direct supervision.
• Coordinates, directs, and implements patient's plan of care under direct supervision.
• Orders, conducts, and interprets pertinent laboratory and diagnostic studies and procedures under direct supervision.
• Makes medical recommendations and/or referrals under direct supervision.
• Formulates, implements, and evaluates an outcome-based treatment plan under direct supervision.
• Maintains appropriate records detailing the patient's treatment plans and outcomes under direct supervision.
• Facilitates patient education relating to medical processes, medication, nutrition, and health promotion under direct supervision.
• Collaborates with patients, families, other clinicians, and referral services to assist in the patient's recovery under direct supervision.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
  
  

Certification/Skills:

• Ability to meet clinic-specific competencies and expectations.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal
• Ability to build comprehensive reports and effectively convey information to others.
• Knowledge of patient rights and laws relative to those rights, such as HIPAA
• Ability to verbalize information/directions clearly and concisely.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clinic and department staff.
• Registered Nurse (RN) State Licensure or Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) by Texas Board of Nursing (BON) required
• Advanced Practice Registered Nurse - Nurse Practitioner (APRN-NP) by Texas Board of Nursing (BON) required
  
  

Minimum Education: Master's Degree in Nursing as NP or in Nursing with completion of a post masters Nurse Practitioner Certification Program required Minimum Experience: None Physical Requirements: Exerts up to 50 pounds of force occasionally and/or up to 20 pounds frequently and/or up to 10 pounds constantly to move objects. Security Sensitive: This position is a security-sensitive position pursuant to Texas Education Code

• 51.215 and Texas Government Code
• 411.094. To the extent that a position requires the holder to research, work on, or have access to critical infrastructure as defined in Texas Business and Commerce Code
• 117.001(2), the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure is a minimum qualification to be hired for and to continue to be employed in that position. Personnel in such positions, and similarly situated state contractors, will be routinely reviewed to determine whether things such as criminal history or continuous connections to the government or political apparatus of a foreign adversary might prevent the applicant, employee, or contractor from being able to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure. A foreign adversary is a nation listed in 15 C.F.R.
• 791.4. Residency Requirement:
  
  

Employees must permanently reside and work in the State of Texas.