Market Chief Nursing Officer, Southern CA

California Hospital Medical Center; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 260,000 - 380,000; Full time

Job summary

CommonSpirit Health's California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles seeks a Market Chief Nursing Officer to lead nursing operations, advance clinical excellence, and elevate patient experience within a six-hospital Southern California market.

As a senior nursing executive, you will partner with other CNOs to standardize nursing practices, mentor leaders, and drive improvements in quality, safety, and workforce engagement while navigating unionized environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Nursing (BSN) or related field; BSN/MSN required.
• Master's degree in Nursing, Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, Education, or Public Health.
• At least ten years of nursing experience.
• At least five years in progressive nursing leadership.
• Active California RN license on hire.
• Experience in unionized hospital environments.
• Proven ability to build collaborative physician relationships and lead improvements.

Responsibilities

• Provide executive leadership and oversight of nursing services at California Hospital Medical Center.
• Collaborate with Chief Nursing Officers across the six-hospital Southern California market.
• Build relationships with physicians, executives, staff and labor representatives.
• Mentor and develop nursing leaders; support succession planning.
• Lead initiatives to improve nursing quality, patient satisfaction, and regulatory compliance.
• Guide through operational changes and technology implementations.
• Maintain a visible leadership presence and staff engagement.
• Provide interim nursing executive leadership across the market when needed.

Skills

Nursing leadership

Unionized environments

Relationship building with physicians

Change management

Mentoring and coaching

Education

BSN or MSN required

Master's in Nursing, Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, Education, or Public Health

Job description

Job Summary and Responsibilities

As our Market Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), you will serve as the senior nursing executive for California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles while playing an important collaborative leadership role across CommonSpirit Health's six-hospital Southern California market. Your primary responsibility will be leading nursing operations, advancing clinical excellence, and strengthening patient experience at California Hospital Medical Center. In addition, you will partner with fellow hospital Chief Nursing Officers throughout the market to promote consistency in nursing practices, strengthen leadership collaboration, and support a more cohesive approach to delivering high-quality patient care.

Every day, you will provide visible, hands-on leadership to nursing teams, working closely with physicians, hospital executives, and frontline staff to advance quality outcomes, patient safety, workforce engagement, and operational performance. Beyond your hospital responsibilities, you will serve as a trusted colleague and resource to other CNOs across the market, helping establish shared standards, exchange best practices, mentor nursing leaders, and support initiatives that strengthen nursing operations. Your ability to influence through relationships, collaboration, and a shared commitment to excellence will be essential to the success of this role.

To be successful in this role, you will bring a strong foundation in California acute care nursing leadership, including experience navigating unionized environments and complex hospital operations. You will be a highly visible, approachable leader who builds trust, fosters meaningful relationships with physicians and nursing teams, and maintains high standards for clinical quality and patient experience. Equally important will be your ability to coach and develop nursing leaders, lead through organizational change, and bring people together around common goals while embracing CommonSpirit Health's mission of humankindness.

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Provide executive leadership and operational oversight of nursing services at California Hospital Medical Center, ensuring excellence in clinical quality, patient safety, patient experience, workforce engagement, and operational performance.
• Collaborate with Chief Nursing Officers across the six-hospital Southern California market to strengthen alignment in nursing practices, establish consistent standards, share best practices, and advance common clinical and operational priorities.
• Build strong, collaborative relationships with physicians, hospital executives, nursing leaders, frontline staff, and labor representatives to foster trust, accountability, and a positive working environment.
• Mentor, coach, and develop nursing leaders, supporting leadership effectiveness, professional growth, and succession planning while serving as a resource to fellow CNOs throughout the market.
• Lead and support initiatives focused on improving nursing-sensitive quality indicators, patient satisfaction, clinical outcomes, and regulatory compliance through evidence-based practices and continuous performance improvement.
• Provide leadership and guidance through operational changes, clinical transformation, technology implementations, and other initiatives that impact nursing care delivery.
• Maintain a highly visible leadership presence through regular rounding, meaningful staff engagement, and active collaboration with medical staff to identify opportunities for improvement and strengthen organizational culture.
• Provide interim nursing executive leadership support across the market when needed, helping maintain continuity, consistency, and operational effectiveness.

Job Requirements

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Nursing (BSN) or a related field, with a BSN or MSN required.
• Master's degree in Nursing, Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, Education, or Public Health.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of nursing experience.
• Minimum of five (5) years of progressive nursing leadership experience.
• Active California Registered Nurse (RN) license upon hire.
• Demonstrated nursing leadership experience within California's acute care hospital environment.
• Experience working within unionized healthcare environments, including labor relations and nursing workforce management.
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative physician relationships, develop nursing leaders, and drive improvements in clinical quality and patient experience.

Preferred

• Previous experience as a Chief Nursing Officer, Associate Chief Nursing Officer, or comparable senior nursing executive within an acute care hospital.
• Experience collaborating with nursing leaders across multiple hospitals or within an integrated health system.
• Demonstrated success improving nursing quality outcomes, patient experience, and employee engagement.
• Experience leading organizational change, clinical transformation, or large-scale technology implementations.
• Professional nursing executive certification, such as NEA-BC.

#LI-CSH

Where You'll Work

Founded in 1887, Dignity Health - California Hospital Medical Center is a 318-bed, acute care, nonprofit hospital located in downtown Los Angeles, California. Serving over 100,000 patients annually, the hospital offers a full complement of services including a Level II Trauma Center, Level III NICU, heart care, women’s health, and a family birth center. In 2025, we opened our new patient tower, Grand Tower, featuring a dramatically expanded Emergency Department and Family Birth Center that will increase patient comfort and privacy.

Additionally, California Hospital Medical Center has been recognized as an LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. It is a Joint Commission-certified Primary Stroke Center, and recently was awarded the AMA/ASA’s Get the Guidelines - Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement, recognizing the hospital’s commitment to providing the best stroke care.

California Hospital Medical Center shares a legacy of humankindness with Dignity Health and CommonSpirit Health, one of the nation’s largest health care systems, dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care.

One Community. One Mission. One California