Associate Chief Nurse

We are actively looking for an Associate Chief Nurse (ACN) at Newton Wellesley Hospital. The Associate Chief Nurse (ACN) is responsible for quality and safety, evidenced based clinical practice, leadership development, patient experience, strategic planning for Patient Care Services and targeted financial performance that supports Newton-Wellesley Hospital's (NWH) fiscal success. The ACN collaborates with nurses, providers, clinical leaders, administrative leaders, and support staff to achieve program goals and objectives.

This role will focus in the following key areas of responsibility: Medical/Surgical Nursing, ICU, Emergency Department, IV Therapy, STAT RNs, Nursing Supervision and Cancer Center.

Professional Practice Environment

• Facilitates the design of delivery systems that assure each patient receives individualized care and service that is consistent with the mission, values, and vision of NWH.
• Creates a leadership team to ensure the care and services are consistent with the mission, values, and visions of NWH.
• Collaborates in the development of a strategic direction for patient care and the practice of Nursing and collaborates with peers on the implementation of strategies to achieve these goals.
•  Participates in shaping and promoting a nursing culture that recognizes excellence in clinical nursing practice; participatory decision-making around practice issues in the work environment; research and evidence-based practice; care delivery systems and human resource development and management.
•  Understands the importance of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mission across MGB and NWH. Supports all initiatives as it pertains to the DEI work across all disciplines.

Quality of Care and Safety

• Participates in the development of standards for professional practice and nursing programs designed to facilitate high quality, equity-informed patient care.
• Develops and implements methodologies for assuring compliance with patient care standards, laws, regulations, collective bargaining agreements, and the standards and requirements of the various professional organizations and regulatory agencies.
• Creates, develops, and implements strategies to improve the quality of service, quality of patient care and the level of patient and staff satisfaction in all areas of assigned responsibility.
•  In collaboration with nursing, medical, and administrative leadership, actively participates in improvement efforts in clinical areas.
• Evaluates and promotes patient, family and employee safety and designs improvements to mitigate risk and harm.

Collaborative Relationships

• Actively builds inter-professional relationships to assure dialogue around patient care and issues to enhance outcome driven patient care with providers, nursing and administrative leaders to form the triad model.
• Represents the discipline of Nursing with senior leadership team, chiefs and chairs of service lines and trustees.
• Collaborates with internal professional providers and with other agencies and groups within the community to assure patient care is coordinated across the continuum.
• Participates in and provides leadership to hospital committees.
• Collaborates with Nursing School clinical faculty and NWH Nursing staff to provide and evaluate clinical experiences with schools of nursing.

Financial Planning and Management

• Determines resources that are needed to meet patient care in collaboration with clinical and administrative leadership team.
• Collaborates with inter-professional colleagues in developing financial plans for new and existing programs.
• Provides leadership to clinical staff and Nursing Directors, Clinical Nurse Managers and other clinical leaders in the development and management of capital and operational budgets.
• Allocates and monitors resources to achieve productivity, customer service and staff development goals.

Personnel Management

• Participates in determining and managing nursing resource requirements and plays an active role in recruitment, retention and development of programs that meet these requirements.
• Participates in the development, implementation and monitoring of performance standards and performance management systems to assure continuous improvement on the quality of service and care.
• Provides leadership to nursing and clinical management staff in the selection, evaluation, promotion, and termination of employees.
• Actively engages in and promotes pro-active employee relations in all spheres of influence. Ensures staff communication channels are effective and that issues are heard and acted upon.
• Creates an environment that recognizes, encourages and rewards excellent performance.

Professional Development

• Facilitates, coaches, encourages, and mentors staff, and managers and leadership roles in developing the skills and abilities they need to improve their ability to deliver quality patient care.
• Assure regulatory compliance through staff education.
• Assure development and implementation of educational and orientation programs, which meet the educational needs of staff and promotes alternative opportunities for to staff.
• In the spirit of lifelong learning, actively seeks out opportunities for personal and professional growth while being mindful of innovative solutions.
• Represents NWH Nursing on internal, corporate, and external committees, task forces and professional organizations.

Strategic Planning

• Uses management information to determine trends, forecasts and marketing strategies which have implication for the institution's operational and strategic direction.
• In collaboration with medical and administrative staff, routinely participates in the strategic planning process and in designing improvements based on data.
•  Develop and manages an operational plan.
• Participates in emergency preparedness activities.

Evidenced Informed Practice/Research

• Provides leadership support for and participates in the development of nursing and other clinical research and innovative programs at NWH.
• Apply research findings in the developing practice standards and guidelines. Suggests strong approach to Evidence Based Practice
• Reviews all research proposals that require Nursing staff involvement to assure the correct support is available and appropriate.

Education 

• Master's degree in nursing, Business Administration, or other related degree required. Doctoral degree or current matriculation in an accredited program is strongly preferred.

Experience

• Minimum of 10 years of nursing experience. Minimum of 3-5 years' experience in nursing administration.

License/ Registration

• Current registration in nursing in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• Current specialty certification required or to be obtained within 2 years of hire.
• Certification needs to be maintained while employed in this position.

Knowledge and Skills 

• Must have demonstrated ability in management of diverse activities pertaining to a patient service line or clinical program.
• Expert interpersonal and communication skills.
• Must have broad theoretical knowledge and work experiences that demonstrate:
• Familiarity with models of professional nursing practice.
• Management of personnel and fiscal resources in a patient care setting.
•  Program development, implementation, and evaluation.
• Long-range program planning that involves complex decision-making skills.
• Must be able to deal with frequent stress due to critical issues relating to patient care, changing organizational climate and personnel issues.