Nurse Educator/Infection Prevention

East Tennessee Behavioral Health; Knoxville (TN); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

East Tennessee Behavioral Health in Knoxville seeks an experienced Nurse Educator/Infection Preventionist to join our clinical team. This role develops and implements education plans, leads new hire orientation, and ensures staff competency and patient safety.

You will collaborate with the Nursing Director and CNO, align programs with Joint Commission and CMS requirements, and provide evidence-based in-service training.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in nursing or related field preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in nursing required.
• Five+ years of nursing experience preferred.
• Three years of RN experience required.
• Two years of behavioral health RN experience required.
• 1+ years in Clinical Education/Training and Development preferred.
• NPD Practitioner certification or related clinical certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Facilitates orientation/onboarding to promote employee retention.
• Develops and implements education plans.
• Leads new hire orientation from a clinical perspective.
• Ensures education aligns with Joint Commission, CARF, CMS and State agencies.
• Collaborates with Corporate Nursing Director/Educator to evaluate outcomes data.
• Instructs didactic content and clinical skills for designated competencies.
• May serve as infection preventionist for the facility when trained.
• Provides ongoing staff education to enhance patient safety.

Skills

Education planning

Infection prevention

Staff training

Regulatory compliance

Education

Master’s degree in nursing or related field

Bachelor’s degree in nursing

NPD certification or clinical certification (preferred)

Job description

East Tennessee Behavioral Health is growing!!

Knoxville's newest behavioral health provider is seeking an experienced Nurse Educator/Infection Preventionist to join our team of professionals. As Knoxville's newest behavioral health hospital, we provide a full continuum of behavioral health treatment services for adults and seniors. Our goal is to deliver compassionate, personalized care to those who turn to us in their time of need.

The Nurse Educator plays a critical role in ensuring that behavioral health staff are well-equipped to provide safe, high-quality patient care. This hands-on position is responsible for developing and implementing education plans, identifying learning needs, and leading new hire orientation from a clinical perspective. The Nurse Educator facilitates ongoing training programs, ensures compliance with regulatory guidelines, and fosters a culture of continuous learning. By modeling best practices and engaging staff in evidence-based education, this role directly contributes to enhancing professional competency and patient safety within the facility.

Essential Functions

• Facilitates orientation/onboarding program to promote employee retention.
• Conducts orientation in a manner that fosters a positive learning environment.
• Role models organizational and personal commitment to new employee success.
• Participates in designing and identifying educational activities to address practice gaps for identified target audiences, which may include licensed and non-licensed healthcare personnel.
• Identifies learning needs of staff and/or facility
• Role models competent practice through demonstration or simulation activities
• Assess practice gaps/Crosswalk competencies to practice
• Collaborates with Corporate Nursing Director /Educator to review outcomes data to evaluate and refine competency management activities
• Assist with development and/or instruction of didactic content and clinical skills for designated competencies
• Develops education plan according to gap assessment or quality data/safety outcomes
• Aligns educational programs with facility and/or organization policies and procedures
• Implement and deliver educational curricula as required by regulatory agencies such as Joint Commission, CARF, CMS and State agencies.
• Creates engaging, evidence-based educational content to meet the specific needs of the intended audience
• Demonstrates exceptional instructional skills while maintaining learner engagement
• Act a general resource for nursing staff.
• Collaborate with medical practitioners and CNO/DON to incorporate nursing processes into the plan of care for patients.
• Provide educational leadership to patients and care providers to enhance specialized patient care within established clinical protocol.
• Promotes safe, quality, and compassionate patient care
• Assist patient and caregivers with education needs, problem solution and health management across the continuum of care.
• Educate direct patient care staff in the use of equipment, supplies, and coordinates in-service training for appropriate staff.
• Supports new ideas and innovation in educational design
• Provides staff with resources and “just-in-time” education to implement immediate changes
• May serve in the role of infection preventionist for the facility with training.
• May provide direct care as needed.

Other Functions

• Provides expertise in identifying professional development needs of individual staff
• Assists staff to identify areas for individual growth in current role
• Identifies and provides opportunities for skill enhancement and mastery
• Utilizes novice to expert continuum when developing staff
• Promotes certification in areas of nursing specialty
• Perform other functions and tasks as assigned.

Education/Experience/Skill Requirements

• Master’s degree in nursing, Healthcare Administration, Education or other clinical field or equivalent combination of education and/or experience preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in nursing or commensurate experience required
• Five + years strongly preferred
• Three years of registered nurse experience required.
• Inpatient psychiatry experience as an RN strongly preferred
• Two years of behavioral health experience as an RN required.
• 1+ years experience in Clinical Education/Training and Development (Preferred)
• Certification as an NPD Practitioner and/or clinical certification as recognized by American Nurse Credentialing Center. (Preferred)

Licenses/Designations/Certifications

• Current state license is required for this position.
• CPR and de-escalation/restraint certification required (training available upon hire and offered by facility).
• First aid may be required based on state or facility.

Additional Regulatory Requirements

While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of the requirements of the job, management reserves the right to add or remove duties from particular jobs when circumstances (e.g. emergencies, changes in workload, rush jobs or technological developments) dictate.

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants for employment regardless of an individual’s characteristics protected by applicable state, federal and local laws.

AHRN