Chief Nursing Officer- Behavioral Health

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: 

• Sets the vision for nursing practice in the delivery of safe, timely, efficient, equitable and patient centered care. Manages the daily operations of nursing services. 

• Identifies and prioritizes issues of importance, including those priority issues as set for by leadership.  Collaborates with department leaders and corporate leaders, as needed. 

• Communicates instructions, expectations and timelines clearly and concisely. 

• Develops, maintains and implements nursing services, policies and procedures that conform to current standards of nursing practice and accrediting agencies, facility philosophy and operational policies while maintaining compliance with state, federal and local governmental agencies laws and regulations.   

• Develops and interprets operational indicators to detect census and acuity changes and increases or decreases in volume that could impact staffing levels, revenues or expenses.  Acts to correct undesirable trends. Allocates nursing resources based on measurement of patient acuity/care needed. 

• Leads a team of highly qualified and engaged department members thru hiring, orienting, performance assessment and management, motivating, training, scheduling, and coaching to meet department and facility goals. Ensures adequate staffing. 

• Maintains productivity levels that are aligned with client census, curtailing unnecessary overtime and/or excessive staff work hours.   

• Manages staff scheduling and maintains an updated plan for contingency staffing.  

• Maintains accountability expectations for self and staff in all areas of job performance.   

• Engages staff in quality and safety basics to ensure sustained, measurable compliance.   

• Identifies staff educational needs and ensures they are addressed with education programs that are attended by staff.   

• Hold staff accountable for non-compliance and client safety concerns, as well as attendance, following policies, behavior, and adherence to code of conduct.   

• Makes nursing diagnosis of the medical and emotional status of patients and recommends treatment options.  Consults with psychiatrists and other behavioral health staff in designing appropriate treatment plans for patients.  Provides overall supervision of patient assessments and care plans.  Coordinates nursing services with all other departments.  

• Participates in daily or weekly management team meetings to discuss patient’s status, identify indicators for reassessment of patient’s condition, reaction/responsiveness and involvement of other disciplines.   Discusses census changes, patient or staff complaints or concerns.   

• Establishes, implements and monitors the infection control program and safety. Prepares or reviews infection control surveillance reports to identify trends and to develop effective actions to control and prevent infections.  

• Collaborates with interdisciplinary treatment teams, other departments and administration to ensure that all patient’s physical, biopsychosocial, age, developmental and cultural needs are met.  

• Develops and implements health care related training that assures the best possible delivery of health-related supports and services.  

• Assists the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the preparation and administration of the organization's budget. Manages budget and operates within approved budget while providing excellent quality of care.  Actively participate in strategic planning and budget development. 

• Maintains adequate and appropriate inventory of supplies and equipment for the provision of patient services.  

• Oversees the maintenance of patient clinical records, statistics, reports and records for purposes of evaluation and reporting of organization activities.  

• Assists CEO in preparing staff for inspection survey.  Participates in the preparation and implementation of the Plan of Correction response to an inspection survey. 

• Monitors unit/floor functioning by making frequent rounds.  Intervenes in crisis situations and investigates incidents. Analyzes, reviews and completes follow up on incident reports related to nursing/patient safety issues in conjunction with Risk Management. 

• Assists with direct care as needed. 

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:  

• Develops and implements program policies and procedures that guide the provision of services.  

• Complies with organizational policies, procedures, performance improvement initiatives and maintains regulatory and industry standards. 

• Maintains regular and reliable attendance. 

• Meets expectations as an exempt employee to work additional hours as required to meet facility needs and project deadlines. 

• Accepts responsibility for professional growth and development of self and attends all mandatory facility in-services and staff development activities as scheduled. 

• Maintains professionalism and confidentiality of facility employees and patients. 

• Performs other duties as assigned. 

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE/SKILL REQUIREMENTS: 

• Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree required.   

• Five or more years’ nursing experience required. Three or more years’ experience in psychiatric or behavioral health required. 

• Skills in assessment, considerable knowledge of nursing principles and practice, staffing, budgeting, employee management, regulatory requirements and documentation of care; ability to meet regulatory requirements. 

LICENSES/DESIGNATIONS/CERTIFICATIONS: 

• Valid current RN license from the state or from a compact state, where applicable. 

• Certified in Psychiatric Nursing preferred. 

• CPR and de-escalation and restraint certification required (training available upon hire and offered by facility).  

• First aid may be required based on state or facility. 

WORK LOCATION: 

This position is onsite at the facility and is not a remote position. 

SUPERVISORY REQUIREMENTS:  

Five or more years progressive management experience required.