Patient Safety Specialist RN

UCHealth; Aurora (CO); On-site; USD 56,000 - 87,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO

Tuition assistance

Employee discounts

Life/AD&D coverage

Job summary

UCHealth is seeking a Patient Safety Specialist to support patient safety, incident management, and regulatory readiness across perioperative care areas, including OR, Anesthesia, and PSA. You will partner with unit managers and frontline teams to drive just culture, safety surveillance, and timely documentation in the Occurrence Report System.

The role emphasizes surveillance, trend analysis, and collaboration with nursing, anesthesia, and physicians to standardize safe practices and lead

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse with state licensure.
• Preferred: CPPS, CPHQ or equivalent patient safety/quality cert.
• 2+ years of acute care experience; OR experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage incident reports for OR, Anesthesia and PSA units.
• Serve as primary resource for event intake, triage, documentation, and follow-up.
• Conduct initial event reviews and identify trends for safety improvements.
• Facilitate CCRs, Aggregate Reviews, and Action Plans as needed.
• Collaborate with managers to ensure timely staff follow-up and learning dissemination.

Skills

RN license

CPPS/CPHQ certification

Acute care experience

BLS certification

Education

BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing)

Master's in Nursing/Healthcare Admin/Quality/Patient Safety (preferred)

Job description

Description

Location: UCHealth UCHlth Anschutz Inpt Pavilion, US:CO:Aurora

Department: OR Operating Room AIP

Work Schedule: Full Time, 80.00 hours per pay period (2 weeks)

Shift: Days

Pay: $40.86 - $63.33 / hour. Pay is dependent on applicant's relevant experience

This position is an onsite role and does not offer a hybrid or remote option

Summary

The Patient Safety Specialist (PSS) supports patient safety, event management, and regulatory readiness for the perioperative care areas, including OR, Anesthesia, and Perioperative support assistants (PSA).This role serves as a clinical partner to unit managers and frontline teams by leading incident report management, event follow-up, and safety surveillance, while ensuring timely and accurate documentation in the Occurrence Report System. The PSS advances a just culture, reduces risk, and drives consistent safety practices across the perioperative continuum.

Minimum Requirements

• Graduate of an accredited or state board of nursing approved Registered/Professional Nursing program. Preferred: Master's degree in Nursing, Healthcare Administration, Quality, or Patient Safety.
• State licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN). Preferred: Certification(s): CPPS, CPHQ, or equivalent patient safety/quality certification (in addition to CNOR).
• 2 years of acute care experience. Preferred: 2-5 years of recent clinical experience in the Operating Room.
• BLS - BLS through the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross CPR for the Professional Rescuer with card in-hand before start date. BLS or CPR card must be good through sixty days of hire.

At UCHealth, We Improve Lives

Picture yourself on a dynamic team improving lives in the following way(s):

Patient Safety & Risk Management

• Complete, review, and manage incident reports for assigned areas in collaboration with unit managers and clinical leaders.
• Serve as the primary resource for event intake, triage, documentation, and follow-up across OR, Anesthesia and PSA units.
• Conduct initial event reviews, identify trends, and elevate high-risk or serious safety events per organizational policy.
• Facilitate or support Cause-and-Correct Reviews (CCR), Aggregate Reviews, and Action Plan development as appropriate.
• Partner with managers to ensure timely staff follow-up, learning dissemination, and closure of safety events.

Regulatory & Accreditation Readiness

• Monitor open events, action items, and regulatory follow-ups to ensure closure within required timeframes.
• Support survey readiness activities, including tracers, audits, and documentation review related to patient safety events.
• Act as a subject matter expert for patient safety documentation and reporting expectations in procedural areas.

Clinical Practice Improvement

• Partner with nursing, anesthesia, and physicians to standardize safe practices across the perioperative department.
• Support development and revision of policies, procedures, and workflows related to patient safety and quality.
• Promote high-reliability practices (e.g., safety huddles, just culture, handoff tools, time-outs, escalation pathways).

Education & Culture of Safety

• Provide education and coaching to leaders and staff on event reporting, human factors, just culture, and safety tools.
• Support leadership rounding and staff engagement to reinforce speaking up and learning from events.
• Contribute to orientation and ongoing competency programs related to patient safety.

Data, Reporting & Communication

• Track, trend, and analyze safety events across supported areas; identify recurring risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Prepare unit-level and leadership reports related to incident reporting and safety themes.
• Communicate findings and lessons learned to managers and teams in a non-punitive, just culture framework.
• Serve as a liaison between frontline teams, patient safety, quality, and risk management departments.

Perioperative:

• Direct care includes practice in Perioperative, PACU (Post Anesthesia Care Unit) or Operating Room levels of care
• AORN and ABPANC core curriculum and certifications standards are included in evidence-based care models
• Clinical Educators support and guide individualized specialty education and training for competency validation throughout clinical orientation.

Employees are our number one asset.

*UCHealth promotes a culture that invests in professional success and personal well-being through a comprehensive total rewards program. *

Recognition

• Performance bonus: UCHealth offers a 3-Year Incentive Bonus to recognize employee contributions to our success in quality, patient experience, organizational growth, financial goals and tenure. The bonus accumulates annually each October and is paid out in October during the third year of employment.
• Performance-based pay increase: The Annual Merit Pay Increase recognizes work performance that meets or consistently exceeds performance standards documented through UCHealth's established evaluation process and accounts for increased experience, skills and cost of living.
• Market reviews: All UCHealth positions are reviewed annually to ensure UCHealth base pay aligns with market standards. Base pay rates are adjusted as needed to stay market competitive.

Health and well-being

• Medical, dental and vision coverage.
• Access to 24/7 mental health and well-being support for employees and dependents.
• Discounted gym memberships and fitness resources.
• Free Care.com membership.
• Voluntary benefits such as accident insurance, critical illness insurance, group legal plan, identity theft protection, pet insurance, auto and home insurance, and employee discount programs.
• Time away from work: Paid time off (PTO), paid family and medical leave (inclusive of Colorado FAMLI), leaves of absence.
  • New employees receive an initial PTO load with first paycheck.
• Employer-provided basic life and accidental death and dismemberment coverage with buy-up coverage options.
• Employer-provided short-term disability and long-term disability with a buy-up coverage option.

Retirement and savings

• 403(b) plan with employer matching contribution.
• Additional 457(b) plan may be available.
• Flexible spending accounts for health care and dependent day care; health savings account available when enrolled in high-deductible (HD) medical plan.

Education and career growth

• UCHealth provides access to academic degrees and certificate programs to promote professional and personal growth.
  • Up to 100% of tuition, books and fees paid for by UCHealth for specific educational degrees.
  • Other programs may qualify for up to $10,000/year pre-paid by UCHealth or up to $5,250/year in the form of tuition reimbursement.
• Access to LinkedIn Learning, which offers thousands of virtual courses and seminars, and internal professional development opportunities.
• Employees have access to free assistance navigating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and submitting their federal student loans for forgiveness.

*Eligibility for some programs is based on an employee's scheduled work hours.

We improve lives. In big ways through learning, healing, and discovery. In small, personal ways through human connection. But in all ways, we improve lives.

UCHealth always welcomes talent. This position will be open for a minimum of three days and until a top applicant is identified.

UCHealth recognizes and appreciates the rich array of talents and perspectives that equal employment and diversity can offer our institution. As an equal opportunity employer, UCHealth is committed to making all employment decisions based on valid requirements. No applicant shall be discriminated against in any terms, conditions or privileges of employment or otherwise be discriminated against because of the individual's race, color, national origin, language, culture, ethnicity, age, religion, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender, veteran status, socioeconomic status, or any other characteristic prohibited by federal, state, or local law. UCHealth does not discriminate against any qualified applicant with a disability as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act and will make reasonable accommodations, when the do not impose an undue hardship on the organization.

Who We Are (uchealth.org)