Director Nursing Inpatient

Advocate Aurora Health; Town of Grafton (WI); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Advocate Health is seeking an experienced nursing leader to oversee staffing, resources, and automated patient care systems across departments, ensuring high-quality patient care and budget adherence. You will evaluate care quality and drive performance improvements while coordinating with governance councils to promote innovation.

The role emphasizes staff mentorship, patient experience, and regulatory compliance with DNV and Joint Commission, alongside fostering evidence-based practice and

Qualifications

• Ability to manage operations of assigned departments to ensure high-quality, patient-focused care.
• Strong leadership and administrative skills with the ability to coach staff and delegate.
• Excellent listening and critical thinking skills.
• Solid human resources management capabilities.
• Ability to handle multiple demands simultaneously.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Strong planning and organizational skills.
• Experience with nursing information systems.

Responsibilities

• Develops strategy to ensure adequate resources for staffing, supplies, and automated care systems.
• Evaluates quality of patient care using standards, outcomes, and quality indicators.
• Uses data-driven engagement strategies to enhance satisfaction and monitor performance.
• Maintains relationships with patients, families, staff, other departments, and vendors; acts as liaison.
• Drives change collaboratively with leaders and governance councils; promotes innovation.
• Aims for care management targets in areas of responsibility.
• Aims for patient experience targets.
• Seeks improvements in teammate engagement.
• Plans staffing needs to meet productivity benchmarks.
• Ensures department compliance with DNV, Joint Commission, and other regulators.
• Promotes evidence-based practice and integrates evidence with goals.
• Implements recruitment/retention strategies and mentors staff.
• Optimizes work environment using feedback and engagement metrics.
• Performs HR duties: interviewing, promotions, evaluations, actions, morale.
• Develops and recommends operating and capital budgets.
• Ensures compliance with Code of Ethical Conduct and laws.

Skills

Nursing leadership

Staff coaching

Budget management

Communication skills

Critical thinking

HR management

Multitasking

Planning & organization

Nursing informatics

Education

Master’s Degree in Nursing

MSN required if undergraduate not BSN

Doctoral degree preferred (DNP/PhD)

Tools

Nursing information systems

Job description

Major Responsibilities:

• Develops strategy for ensuring necessary resources are managed to provide optimal nursing care. This includes the availability of staff resources, patient care supplies and automated patient care systems. Also responsible for effectively managing resources through systems management, carefully coordinating system issues to assure optimal patient care.
• Responsible for evaluating the quality of patient care provided by all department staff by using the Standards of Practice and patient outcomes and other quality indicators to include peer review, event reporting, use of policy and procedures, evaluation of equipment, supplies and products. Responsible to ensure that appropriate resources are available for Performance Improvement initiatives in the department.
• Develops and uses data-driven patient engagement strategies to enhance satisfaction and monitor service performance against key indicators. Coordinates services across areas and reinforces accountability to department, facility, and service standards.
• Maintains and promotes effective relationships with and between patients, families, department staff, other departments, medical staff and their support staff, other health care facilities and vendors. Facilitates timely resolution of operational priorities as needed. Acts as a liaison between medical and nursing staff as necessary.
• Serves as a catalyst for change, ensuring initiatives are developed collaboratively with leaders, teammates, and Professional Governance councils while promoting innovative approaches and concepts. Actively contributes to Professional Governance councils while strengthening accountability and supporting department representatives to ensure effective role execution.
• Responsible for achieving care management targets in area(s) of responsibility.
• Responsible for achieving patient experience targets.
• Responsible for achieving target improvements in teammate engagement.
• Plans for staffing needs appropriately meeting established productivity benchmarks.
• Responsible for attaining and maintaining department compliance with DNV, Joint Commission on Accreditation, and other regulatory bodies.
• Facilitates evidence-based nursing by creating an environment that encourages the utilization of evidence in practice; uses evidence in decision-making to maintain quality, cost and customer service; and ensures the integration of evidence in congruence with departmental, organization, regional and strategic goals.
• Responsible for using innovative and effective recruitment and retention strategies and coaching staff in recruitment and retention behaviors. Also responsible for establishing successful relationships and links with nursing instructors and students.
• Responsible for optimizing the work environment by effective use of all data, which includes but is not limited to employee feedback and teammate engagement metrics to enhance retention of staff.
• Performs human resources responsibilities for staff which include interviewing and selection of new teammates, promotions, staff development, performance evaluations, compensation changes, resolution of teammate concerns, corrective actions, terminations, and overall teammate morale.
• Develops and recommends operating and capital budgets and controls expenditures within approved budget objectives.
• Responsible for understanding and adhering to the Code of Ethical Conduct and for ensuring that personal actions, and the actions of leaders and teammates supervised, comply with the policies, regulations and laws applicable to the business.

Licensure, Registration, and/or Certification Required:

• Active RN License in current state of practice.
• Professional Certification in Nursing Leadership obtained within 1 year of hire.
• Graduate of a Board of Nursing approved nursing education program.
• Basic Life Support (BLS). Additional education, training, certifications, or experience may be required based on specialty.
• Active registered nurse (RN) multi-state compact and/or single-state license with privileges to practice in the state(s) where the RN is providing client nursing services.
• Licensed nurses practicing via telehealth/telenursing/virtual modalities are required to be licensed or hold the privilege to practice in the state(s) where the client(s) are located. Licensed nurses are responsible and accountable for knowing, understanding, and practicing in compliance with the laws, rules, regulations, and standards of practice of the state(s) where the client(s) are located.

Education Required:

• Master’s Degree in Nursing.
• If undergraduate degree is BSN, a Master's Degree from a health-related program or MBA is acceptable.
• Must have MSN if undergraduate degree is not BSN.

Experience Required:

• Typically requires 7 years of experience in nursing leadership that includes experience in the management of multiple, large, complex acute care departments.
• Includes 3 years of management experience in managing staff and budgets.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Required:

• Demonstrated business, financial, and clinical skills to manage the operations of assigned departments to ensure high quality, patient focused care.
• Demonstrated leadership and administrative skills with the ability to develop and coach staff as well as the ability to delegate appropriately.
• Strong listening and critical thinking skills.
• Strong skills in the management of human resources.
• Ability to handle multiple demands simultaneously.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Strong planning and organization skills.
• Demonstrated experience in the use of personal computers, productivity software and nursing information systems.

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions:

• Must be able to sit, stand, walk, lift, squat, bend, reach above shoulders, and twist frequently during work shift.
• Must be able to lift and support the weight of 35 pounds in handling patients, medical equipment, and supplies.
• Must be able to push/pull with 30 lbs. of force and perform a sliding transfer of 150 lbs. with a second person present.
• Required to use foot pedals on carts or machines.
• Must have functional sight and hearing.
• Exposed to the following hazards on a continuous basis: mechanical, electrical, chemical, radiation, blood and body fluids.
• Required to wear gloves, goggles and gowns on an as-needed basis.
• Operates equipment essential to performing the duties of the job.

Preferred Education:

• Doctoral degree preferred (DNP, PhD).

DISCLAIMER

All responsibilities and requirements are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities.

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only responsibilities to be performed by an employee occupying this job or position. Employees must follow any other job-related instructions and perform any other job-related duties requested by their leaders.